Everything You Want
by AmberWings
Summary: *Complete with R/A Side Story* Ryoga has proposed to Akane, but receives an unexpected answer. So now who's there for Ryoga to turn to? Ry/U
1. Proposal

Everything You Want  
  
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Disclaimer: These characters do not belong to me. They belong to Rumiko Takahashi.  
  
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Chapter 1  
  
* * * * * * * * * * *  
  
Akane stumbled into the kitchen of the Tendo Dojo, her hands clenched tightly around a bouquet of wildflowers, which were starting to wilt from her vise-like grip. All the blood had drained out of her face, and she had a stunned expression upon her pretty face. Immediately the young woman next to the stove stopped cooking, and walked quickly over to the blue- haired girl, placing a comforting hand on her shaking shoulder.  
  
"Tell me, Akane, what's wrong?" Kasumi inquired gently, as she pried the bouquet from her little sister's nerveless fingers. Akane looked up, her wild brown eyes finding Kasumi's calm ones, and blurted out the story.  
  
"R-ryoga told me that he l-loves me! H-he's asked me t-to m-m- marry him!"  
  
"Oh, my!" The wildflowers fell limply from Kasumi's hands, and scattered when it made contact with the wooden floor.  
  
*Somewhere there's speaking  
  
It's already coming in  
  
Oh, and it's rising in the back of your mind*  
  
At the exact same moment, Ranma bounded downstairs, intent on stealing a quick snack. He sprinted into the kitchen, but stopped dead in his tracks when he saw Akane's face. "Yo, Akane, what's wrong?" he asked, his voice slightly anxious.  
  
"Ryoga just told me that he loves me, and has proposed to me! I have until noon tomorrow to think about it, and then I have to tell him my answer!" Akane said, her voice slightly shrill.  
  
"That's it?" Ranma chuckled, his hand slowly stretching out to snag a bun from the counter top.  
  
Akane looked at him, her velvet-brown eyes filled with slight hysteria. "'That's it?' you say? 'THAT'S IT?'"  
  
Ranma could tell that a mallet was coming his way, and quickly threw his arms in front of his face. "Well, geez, Akane, I thought something BAD had happened, like some guy had came and threatened you, or somethin'!" Akane's temper went out like a flame without fuel, which to Ranma's knowledge was uncharacteristic of her. "Look, if you want, we can go talk in your room. You never know if Nabiki is hiding behind some corner, trying to get stuff to blackmail us with," Ranma suggested, feeling that he should do something to help her.  
  
"Okay," Akane murmured, and followed him to his room. On the way upstairs, Ranma tried to puzzle a few things out.  
  
'Akane looked so unsettled when she said Ryoga loved her! How can she not notice anything as obvious as Ryoga's love for her?' The stormy-eyed boy grinned dryly, and continued, 'How can she not realize that P-Chan is Ryoga?' He smiled to himself as they reached the room, and Ranma pushed open the door.  
  
*You never could get it  
  
Unless you were fed it  
  
But now you're here, and you don't know why*  
  
Akane went over to the only chair in the room, and sat gingerly on it. Ranma took a seat on the floor in front of the door, so he could make sure no one was eavesdropping. "So," he started, "Ryoga told you that he loves you." Akane nodded mutely, and started fidgeting in her chair. "Do you love him?" Ranma was afraid of the answer, but he had to know. He was relieved when Akane whispered a tiny no. 'But just make sure..........' "Akane, just to be sure, think about all your times with him, and try to figure out if you really don't love him.........."  
  
*But under skinned knees  
  
And skid marks  
  
Past the places where you used to learn*  
  
Akane thought about all her memories with Ryoga. 'He's more of a best friend to me....,' she thought, and reached her decision. "Ranma, I don't love him like that... I love him like a brother...." Ranma's eyes glinted, and Akane could have sworn they looked triumphant.  
  
"Then don't marry him!" Ranma declared, seeming very much relieved, and stood up. "Now that that's all solved, let's go get dinner." The boy raced out the door into the hallway, leaving Akane behind in the bedroom.  
  
The blue-haired beauty looked down at her bare feet, and whispered quietly, "At least, I think so...."  
  
After dinner, Akane slipped into her room and shut the door. After getting ready for bed, she paused a minute, and walked softly towards the open window. "Mother," the girl called softly into the night, "should I marry Ryoga?" But no answer came; only the almost-silence that comes with night.  
  
*You howl and listen  
  
Listen and wait for the  
  
Echoes of angels who won't return*  
  
Lying in bed, Akane stared up at the ceiling of her room. 'Should I marry Ryoga? He's so kind, and trustworthy. He's never been mean to me at all. He'd protect me from danger, and he might train me. He'd make a good husband.'  
  
*He's everything you want  
  
He's everything you need  
  
He's everything inside of you  
  
That you wish you could be*  
  
Akane rolled over, and looked at the blank wall next to her bed. 'He never insults me; he's always there for me. But I don't love him....'  
  
*He says all the right things  
  
At exactly the right time  
  
But he means nothing to you  
  
And you don't know why*  
  
'He'd probably be the kind of husband who'd do anything for his family,' Akane pondered. 'So maybe I should marry him....' Immediately Akane stopped that thought. 'But I don't love him that way! Besides, he might not love me. He might only have a crush on me or something. So what if I married him, then we ran into someone Ryoga really loved, like Akari? Then we'd both be miserable, both of us not in love with each other, and yearning for another.' Akane immediately started laughing to herself, and thought, 'Yeah, right. Me, YEARNING for someone.'  
  
One little corner of her mind whispered to her, 'What about Ranma?'  
  
Akane mentally laughed derisively, and shot right back, 'So? I MIGHT like Ranma, but that doesn't mean he likes me. Anyway, I'm going off topic. Ryoga does, and that's all that I need to know right now.'  
  
*You're waiting for someone  
  
To put you together  
  
Waiting for someone to push you away*  
  
'Now that I think about it... when Akari came, Ryoga seemed to be in love with her. Also, in the Tunnel of Lost Love, Ranma and I saw Ukyo and Ryoga having a boyfriend-girlfriend fight. So Ryoga probably doesn't love me. But then again, Ryoga kept hugging me in the Tunnel, and while he was holding me he said to kill him if it were a dream so he could die happy....' Akane sighed, and wished wistfully that Ryoga had said something then. 'Not that I love him or anything... but it would be nice to know.... Things can be so complicated, sometimes.'  
  
*There's always another  
  
Wound to discover  
  
There's always something more you wish he'd say*  
  
Akane's troubled thoughts slowly stopped, and Akane slipped gently into slumber. But it wasn't a dreamless rest. On the contrary, it was filled with dreams of Kirin, Tauma, and many other suitors who had kidnapped Akane and were trying to marry her. But then, instead of Ranma rescuing her, Ryoga would.  
  
*He's everything you want  
  
He's everything you need  
  
He's everything inside of you  
  
That you wish you could be*  
  
Then after he would save her, he'd take her home. On the way, Ryoga would compliment her, praise her, and fuss over her. Then just as they reached the house it would turn into a church, and they would get married while Akane kept insisting that she didn't love him.  
  
*He says all the right things  
  
At exactly the right time  
  
But he means nothing to you  
  
And you don't know why*  
  
After one particularly vivid dream, Akane woke up, sweat covering her clammy body. 'That was one strange dream,' Akane told herself shakily, as she tried to get it out of her head. 'It's just a dream; it's not real in the least bit. You aren't marrying Ryoga; you were just having a nightmare.' The young woman was about to go back to sleep when she realized what she had just said: You aren't marrying Ryoga; you were just having a nightmare. 'A nightmare of marrying Ryoga? At least now I know I don't love him. I'll tell him tomorrow.' she mused, and then silently added, 'At least, I think I don't.'  
  
* * *  
  
That morning at breakfast, all of the diners were deathly silent. They had all been told of Ryoga's proposal by Kasumi, and were anxiously awaiting the confrontation. The question buzzing on all their minds was 'Is Akane going to marry Ryoga?' And also on one other's: 'How should I make money off of this?'  
  
Everyone was tensely watching Akane, who just sat there quietly, not making eye contact with anyone. Finally Soun leaped up from his spot at the table, and started bawling. "Oh, my little Akane is getting married to Ryoga! What about Ranma, your fiancé? Are you going to disregard the family honor?"  
  
Genma, who was currently in panda-form thanks to Ranma, held up an angry sign. [What do you mean Akane is going to marry Ryoga, Tendo? She might not.]  
  
"And you think she'll marry Ranma? You see how they fight! Why would she?" Soun sobbed. This lead to Genma arguing with Soun, and pulling Ranma up to fight, who continued to inhale his food and his father's as well. And during all this, the blue-black haired woman continued to eat wordlessly, while hoping silently that they wouldn't pull her into the fight.  
  
*And you'll just sit tight  
  
And watch it unwind  
  
It's only what you're asking for*  
  
Thankfully, they didn't, and breakfast was finished. Afterwards, Akane spent her few hours of time before the meeting doing normal, everyday things. First she went into the dojo and trained, and afterwards took a bath. When she finished her bath, she went and watched some TV with Ranma. As she watched, a small smile played across her features. 'It's been awhile since I've had a day without a fiancé coming and destroying the place.' Akane realized how peaceful her thoughts were on a day as nerve-racking as this one should be. 'You know,' she mused, 'I thought I'd be really tense. But I'm not, really. Just a little nervous.'  
  
*And you'll be just fine  
  
With all of your time  
  
It's only what you're waiting for*  
  
Ryoga Hibiki plodded down the street, following the little boy he had hired to take him to the Tendo Dojo. As he walked, his mind wandered to one lovely woman. 'Akane,' he thought, 'will you marry me? Or will you refuse?' Ryoga shook his head violently at the thought, and fervently wished that it wouldn't be the case. The crow-black-haired man remembered all the times he had gotten lost then found his way to the dojo. 'Perhaps love IS guiding me,' he wondered silently, 'so maybe she does love me.'  
  
But then a little corner of his mind told him, What if she doesn't love you? What will you do then?  
  
Ryoga held his chin up strong, and replied to himself adamantly, 'I'll still love her, even if she doesn't love me back,' even though the very idea crushed him.  
  
But what about Akari? his mind prodded. Do you love her? And Ukyo- I think you like her, too. So if Akane doesn't love you, won't you start to love one of the others?  
  
Ryoga frowned slightly, and answered, 'There is no time right now to think about that. I'm going to reach the dojo soon enough, and I'll get my answer there.' The man followed the young boy down the road, passing Ukyo's okonomiaki shop, and passing the place where he first met Akari. 'I am going to the dojo- I won't think about them,' he scowled at himself.  
  
*Out of the island  
  
Into the highway  
  
Past the places where you might have turned*  
  
But as Ryoga neared his destination, he started to have second thoughts. 'What if Akari or Ukyo hears of my proposal? Will they still like me? Will they still be my friends?' He quickly forced that thought out of his mind. 'If Akane marries me, I won't have to think about them for a while. But they might be a little... angry when they do hear.' Ryoga's brow knitted in concentration. 'But when they come, I'll be ready, and I'll protect my love!'  
  
*You never did notice  
  
But you still hide away  
  
The anger of angels who won't return*  
  
Back at the Tendo Dojo, Nabiki glanced at the clock in her bedroom. 'Five minutes to noon. I should go get Akane..... and anyone else who might pay to see this.' Nabiki jumped up, and raced down the stairs to where the entire household had congregated. "Everybody, it's five minutes to noon," Nabiki announced. "I suggest you all go outside and wait for the eternally lost boy." Everyone slowly stood up, and they all walked to the front yard in silence. Nabiki strolled out ahead of them, and then sprinted undignified down the street to where her schoolmates might be gathered.  
  
The next five minutes passed by slowly. Akane looked at her family's faces, searching to find what they thought about the proposal. Kasumi's face was carefully blank, her dad's was streaked with tears, and Nabiki wasn't around. Akane then looked at the others' faces. Uncle Saotome had turned back into a man, and his face was mildly anxious. Then Akane looked at Ranma's. 'His face is really tense. I wonder why..........' Akane mulled it over, and realized why. 'Is he afraid of my answer? But it's not like he likes me or anything, so why would he be?' Akane didn't have anymore time to think about it however, for then Ryoga appeared, behind a small boy.  
  
At the gate, Ryoga thanked a boy and handed him ten yen. The boy scampered off, profit in hand, and the young man slowly headed towards Akane.  
  
His eyes shone, and he asked her very softly, "Will you marry me?"  
  
Everyone's eyes went straight to Akane, who was thinking hard about this. 'He's everything I could have possibly hoped for in a husband. He's kind, patient, gentle, thoughtful... I could go on and on.'  
  
*He's everything you want  
  
He's everything you need  
  
He's everything inside of you  
  
That you wish you could be*  
  
Ranma was very anxious. 'Very? That's an understatement. I'd be shaking if I thought no one could see me.' Ranma was having an internal battle. He knew he shouldn't do anything, but he wanted to so badly. 'But why though? It's not like I lo- like that uncute tomboy! So why should it matter if Akane married him? I should be happy I got a fiancé off my back! But I'm not....' He shook his head, and gazed thoughtfully at Akane, who was concentrating.  
  
'I should marry Ryoga,' Akane nervously thought. 'After all, he never insults me, he was always there for me when I really needed it.... But I don't love him.'  
  
*He says all the right things  
  
At exactly the right time  
  
But he means nothing to you  
  
And you don't know why*  
  
Akane took a deep breath. 'I know what I have to do.' "Ryoga, I can't.  
  
Ryoga was at a loss for words. 'But, I, you, me, I thought.... How, can you not marry me? I love you! I'd do anything for you!'  
  
*I am everything you want  
  
I am everything you need  
  
I am everything inside of you  
  
That you wish you could be*  
  
'Akane... I never anger you; I'm always there for you. I'm never rude to you, and I try to rescue you whenever possible... though Ranma always does instead. And I love you!' "But I love you!" he whispered, barely audible.  
  
Akane looked at him with those velvet-brown eyes of hers that he thought of when he was lonely, depressed, or miserable, and whispered back with tiny tears in her eyes, "But I don't love you that way."  
  
*I say all the right things  
  
At exactly the right time  
  
But I mean nothing to you  
  
And I don't know why*  
  
"Why?" Ryoga asked, his voice shaking.  
  
"I don't know."  
  
*And I don't know  
  
Why  
  
Why*  
  
"Then, then I guess I shouldn't bother you anymore," Ryoga managed to get out, his throat closing tight. "Ryoga!" Akane exclaimed, but Ryoga cut her off. "Goodbye, Akane," he whispered, then started to leave the dojo. Trying to be strong, he looked over his shoulder, and spoke softly, "I'll be seeing you later, I guess."  
  
Then Ryoga walked down the street away from the Tendo Dojo, his yellow bandana flapping in the stiff breeze that had came up.  
  
*And I don't know*  
  
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So what do you think? I absolutely love this song, ('Everything You Want,' by Vertical Horizon) and when I heard it I thought about Ryoga. It's my first songfic, so please, be nice!  
  
Author's Note: No, I don't have anything against Ryoga. He's one of my favorite characters, actually. But I like Ryoga/Ukyo pairings, personally. Anyway, since a couple of people have been feeling a bit disappointed that I didn't make it an R/A fic, don't worry! I was considering putting a side story in at the end about Ranma asking Akane about her decision, and it was going to be an R/A chapter. So now, I KNOW that I will make a Ranma and Akane chapter. But, I'm going to make it AFTER I finish the Ry/U branch of it. ~ AmberWings 


	2. Encounters

Everything You Want  
  
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Note: MAJOR OOCness in this chapter (at least in one part)! If you can't handle that, you don't have to read. Disclaimer: Unfortunately, I don't own Ranma ½. It all belongs to that genius, Rumiko Takahashi. Anyway, on with the fic!  
  
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Chapter 2  
  
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Ryoga Hibiki stumbled down the empty street, his footsteps uneven. He was leaving the Tendo Dojo behind, and also the one girl he had loved more than life itself: Akane Tendo. 'How, how could she?' he stuttered mentally. 'How could she not l-l-love me? I, I love her more than anything!' If it came right down to it, he would gladly sacrifice a cure for his curse to save her. 'I actually did that once,' he reflected, 'even though it was mostly because of Ranma.' Suddenly, a deep anguish and the tiniest spark of rage filled him. 'Sh-she's probably in love with Ranma anyway. And Ranma's in love with her, no matter how much he denies it.' Ryoga bared his pointed fangs silently, and bristled. 'In fact, I can even hear him talking to her. Probably telling her that he loves her.' And indeed, there were the muffled sounds of voices far back behind him, and the voices were definitely Ranma's and Akane's. 'Far back behind me... yes, behind. I have no more business with them now, so it would be best if I put them behind me.'  
  
The anguish and rage instantly gave way to a profound hopelessness; a far worse sense of that emotion than when he was lost. Except this time, there was no shining beacon of Akane to lead him through it. Ryoga's footsteps started to turn into a stagger, and he leaned on a fence for support. He grinned sardonically, and muttered mentally to himself, 'I bet I could create the best Shishi Hokkodan right now. I could even beat Ranma with it, a hundred times over.' He chuckled humorlessly, and immediately fell back into his pool of hopelessness. He told himself quietly, 'I can handle this... I think.' Ryoga's eyes lit upon the fence he was leaning on, and grasped at an idea, 'I need someone to help me get through this.' Just the mere thought of someone to help him nearly made him weep tears of joy. 'But who should I go to?' he started to ponder, when suddenly something very large crashed into him. Ryoga fell over, and when he straitened, he was quite ready to use the Shishi Hokkodan at its present power on whoever it was. He turned around, and realized with a start who it was.  
  
"Akari?!" he shouted incredulously, staring at her in mild shock.  
  
Akari beamed, and patted her sumo pig's head. "Yup, it's me!" she smiled cheerfully.  
  
Her liveliness only annoyed Ryoga, causing him to feel even more depressed and slightly angry. "Akari, why are you here?" he asked, trying to buy time to think of a way to leave.  
  
"I came here to find you!" she said happily, and gave him an award winning smile. Ryoga mentally groaned. Akari was definitely not the person he wanted to see right now. Her optimism grated his nerves at the best of times, and aggravated him to no end at the worst.  
  
"Um, why?" he mumbled, still trying to think of an excuse to escape.  
  
"Because I wanna take you out on a date, silly!" Akari laughed.  
  
Ryoga froze. 'A date?! I can't! I still love Akane! Oh, no, not now! Not ever!' he screeched to himself. 'Sure, I might like her sometimes, but she's a friend! She can't be anything more!' Ryoga's head was reeling, and the pig-loving girl took this moment to ask him a question.  
  
"Will you go with me?"  
  
In the black-haired boy's present state, the answer came out, one hundred percent true, blunt, and unadorned. "No."  
  
Akari's sweet face welled up with tears. "Why, Ryoga?" she wailed, while her pig glared angrily at Ryoga for turning her down.  
  
For once, Ryoga's normally controlled mouth broke free of its chains, and said whatever came up without thinking about it. "Akari, you are a very, very close friend. But you annoy me with your cheeriness. Though you're a friend, you can't be anything more!"  
  
Akari let loose a sob, and whispered, "I love you, Ryoga!"  
  
Ryoga's mouth, still on the loose, answered, "You only love me because I can turn into a pig! You don't like me for me!"  
  
Akari immediately stopped crying, and she thought about what he said. 'Maybe... maybe he's right. At first, I was forced to like him because he defeated my pig, but when I saw that he could turn into a pig himself, I loved him instantly, no matter what.... No, he is right. I.... I don't like him for who he is, only what he can turn into....' Akari looked at him, and could feel her face twist into a serious expression. She looked him straight in the eye, and whispered, feeling somewhat ashamed, "Ryoga... you're right. I only loved you because of your ability to change into a pig. Maybe I should leave... and let you find a girl who will love you for you." As soon as she finished speaking, she kneed her sumo pig around, and made him go the other way in a fast trot. As she exited, she never once looked back.  
  
Ryoga watched her leave, stunned, and with a hand clamped tightly over his mouth, in case it ran free again. The previous events raced through his mind, and surprised him to no end. 'A-akari? Sh-she's leaving?' Dazed, Ryoga started stumbling down the endless road again, his heart ache forgotten at the moment. 'I've lost two people that I care about today!' he moaned mentally. 'I've lost Akane and Akari! It might have happened before, but only for a little while! But now, I can't see Akane anymore because of my shame, and I can't see Akari anymore because of her shame! Stupid, stupid, stupid... you always mess everything up, Ryoga!' he kicked himself repeatedly in his mind, then gave himself a punch or two just for good measure. After thoroughly punishing himself, Ryoga started to realize that he was hungry. And he saw that he was lucky enough to be in the business part of Nerima, where all the restaurants were. 'Maybe Fate thinks that I've been punished enough, and deserve a break,' he mused as he looked about at all the restaurants and food stands.  
  
The black-haired man kept his brown eyes open, being careful not to lose sight of the buildings. With his sense of direction, he could close his eyes for a second and end up in another country, and have crossed several oceans, too.  
  
As he wandered through the street, eyes taking in everything, yet heart crying out painfully, delicious smells assaulted his nose, which only served to remind him that he was still starving. Ryoga shoved a hand into his pack, and pulled out several coins. After counting them, he swore internally. 'Only 85 yen!' he moaned. 'Barely enough money for anything!' But fate must have been smiling on him for a single moment, because when he lowered his head in defeat, he found a 1000 yen. The young man quickly picked it up, and clenched it tightly in his fists, so he wouldn't lose it, and started browsing the stands. Ryoga mostly bought small finger foods, but combined they were more than a meal.  
  
After Ryoga finished eating, he walked about the stalls, the hole in his heart growing larger by the second as his hunger had subsided. Now, only his iron will was keeping him from falling over in agony in front of all these people. As it was, he was already stumbling along.  
  
The help, a quiet, detached corner of his mind whispered to him. You need help....  
  
Ryoga frowned at himself, and thought back, 'I know I need someone... some solid pillar of sanity. But... I don't know anyone who would help me get over A-a-akane....' Thinking the name opened new wounds, and he stopped paying attention to where he was going.  
  
And it just so happened that as he bumbled in front a doorway, someone decided that they needed to empty a bucket of soapy water. A bucket of cold, soapy water. And predictably, it hit Ryoga. "BWEE!" the little black piglet shouted in rage at the water-flinger. The man merely shrugged at seeing the furious pig, and went back inside, leaving a shivering Ryoga on the street. 'Oh, no, I can't be a pig now! What will I do? I have no where to go!' His thoughts raced about wildly like mice in a barrel, and he started sprinting down the streets, dodging unsuspecting legs and ankles. As he raced through the crowds, his mind became so muddled that he stopped being aware of his surroundings. The piglet flew through the throngs of shoppers, and he saw a large sumo pig trotting its way down the street. 'No! Not Akari, not now after I hurt her!' Ryoga shot between the larger pig's legs, and when he looked behind to make sure that he wasn't being followed, the tiny piglet crashed into the wall next to a doorway, and was stunned. A pair of athletic legs came out of the door, and stooped down close to Ryoga's little body.  
  
"Hey, aren't you Akane's pig?" Ukyo wondered aloud.  
  
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Author's Note: Yeah, I know this chapter is a little short. Thanks all you people who are reading and reviewing my work! And if you haven't reviewed it, please do so! 


	3. Discovery

Everything You Want  
  
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Disclaimer: Sadly, I don't own Ranma ½....... Rumiko Takahashi does. Author's Note: Because I've only read the comics and watched the movies (not the series), some of the stuff I may write might seem a little... skewed, so don't flame me or anything if the events aren't right.  
  
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Chapter 3  
  
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Ryoga squealed in fear, the discovery of his curse imminent. 'No! Of all the buildings I had to crash into, why Ukyo's?!' The black piglet's legs waved frantically in the air as he tried to right himself before Ukyo grabbed him. But unfortunately, she did just that.  
  
"C'mon, sugar, I'm going to take you inside for a while. I'll see what I can do to help you," Ukyo told him as she cradled him carefully in her arms and strode inside the building. Inside, the air was cool, and the room completely empty. Ukyo took him in and laid him on a table, where she sat in one of the chairs. "So, little guy, here's what I'm gonna do," Ukyo said in a conversational tone. "I'm gonna take you back to Akane's as soon as my day is done, okay?"  
  
Ryoga bweed wildly. 'No, no, NO!' he thought frantically. 'I can't see her now! Not after what happened today!' Another brief spell of anguish flowed over him, but quickly vanished in the rush of adrenaline.  
  
Ukyo grinned wryly. "You don't wanna go, huh? I suppose so. Does she try to feed you that mess that she cooks that she calls 'food'? If so, I'd never wanna go back if I were you." She smiled, and said, "So how about I feed you, and take you back after? I'll tell Akane that I fed you already."  
  
Ryoga's only reply was a short, angered bwee. 'How dare you insult Akane's cooking! Even if it is a little bad....' Ryoga shook his ebon head gently. 'Anyway, I think I can probably escape before she takes me back. And if not... well, let's just not think about that.'  
  
Ukyo carried Ryoga away under one arm, absentmindedly scratching his head with her other hand. She carried him to the back of the kitchen, and lay him on a pile of old newspapers. Ukyo bustled over to where there were a couple okonomiyakis cooking on the griddle, and using her spatula swept them onto a plate. 'Well, those were for me, but I guess Akane's pig can have them.' The brunette carried the food over to where the piglet was resting, and set it in front of him.  
  
"Okay, then!" Ukyo started, but was interrupted by the door's bell dinging, then the door itself banging shut. "Oh, customers!" she exclaimed. "Stay here until I'm done, okay?" she commanded gently. "Just eat your food and be a good piglet." Then she raced out to greet the potential diners.  
  
Ryoga sighed gustily, and lay down on the newspaper. 'When I make my escape,' he contemplated as he finished half an okonomiyaki, 'it'll have to be when she's busiest. She won't notice me, just a little pig, getting away. It may take a little while, so I better do something useful while I wait.' And with that, he rolled over and took a nap.  
  
* * *  
  
Ukyo was exhausted. She had spent all day serving and cooking okonomiyaki, and during her short, less-than-five-minute break she had found Akane's pig, who seemed to have had a mild concussion from running into her restaurant. 'What was the pig's name again?' she wondered as she placed two plates in front of a particularly hungry customer. 'Piggers? Oinkster? No wait, that is definitely wrong. It was something-chan. D-Chan? B-Chan? No, it was P-Chan. There we go.' Ukyo walked briskly back to the grill, where she immediately started a fish okonomiyaki for another customer. 'It seems like that pig-no, P-Chan-is smarter than it-he-seems. He actually seemed to understand what I said, even staying quiet while I spoke and replying when I finished. Either that-' Ukyo smirked-'or the pig has this urge to make noise when I'm not.' She laughed a little, and swiped the now finished okonomiyaki onto a small plate. She carried over to the man who ordered it, and walked back to her griddle. Before starting the next one, she looked around the room. There were only a handful of people left, and only one, a particularly sick looking old woman, was waiting for food. 'What time is it?' Her honey-brown eyes gazed at the clock briefly. 'Five fifty already?' she thought, astonished. 'Time sure has flown.' She quickly made the order for the woman, and brought it over to her.  
  
Ukyo had just turned around and entered the kitchen when the aged lady called after her, "Dear-" she coughed midway-"Could you please bring me a kettle of hot water to help my throat? It's feeling-"*cough cough* "- terrible, and I'm sure some hot water would-" *cough cough* "-help."  
  
"Of course!" Ukyo exclaimed. She rushed into the kitchen, and her footsteps woke P-Chan, who bweed drowsily. "Sorry," she apologized quickly, and hurried about getting a kettle of hot water. When steam came out of the kettle, she grabbed it by its carved handle, and snatched a clean mug from the counter. She brought it over to the coughing woman, and watched her, a little worried.  
  
The woman poured two cups of water, and drained both in a couple seconds. "Thanks, dear," she told Ukyo, and quickly left the restaurant, coughing all the while.  
  
Ukyo sighed, and relaxed. 'Finally! The day is over! Now all I have to do is take P-Chan back to Akane.' Ukyo slowly walked around the last few customers' tables, picking up their soiled plates, glasses, and eating utensils. She stacked them in her arms, and then went over to the woman's table. She picked up the kettle of still-hot water, and took them into the kitchen, barely able to see over the stack of plates. Then she heard a loud CRACK in the kitchen.  
  
'Oh no! P-Chan!' she thought anxiously. 'I hope nothing bad happened! Now let's just hope I don't drop this all....'  
  
* * *  
  
Ryoga arose from his slumber at Ukyo's footsteps, and after she left, jumped with a start. 'What time is it?!' he wondered frantically, and looked at the clock. 'Six o'clock!' He squealed nervously. 'Closing time! Ukyo will be taking me to Akane's soon!' He started sprinting towards the doorway when a loud crash sounded behind him. He turned his head around, still running forwards, to see that he had kicked over the plate. 'If it's broken, oh well. I really have to escape while I can.' Ryoga turned his head back around, to see a pair of long legs walking quickly inside, the owner's head being covered behind a slew of plates. He was running to fast to stop in time, so he merely closed his eyes. 'This is going to hurt....'  
  
* * *  
  
Ukyo strode briskly into the kitchen, her view blocked by the plates. 'Please let nothing bad have happened to the-' She didn't get a chance to finish the thought, for a small, quick moving something collided into her legs. As Ukyo fell down, she uttered a single strangled shriek, but the sound was nothing compared to the shattering of plates, the metallic clang of the kettle hitting the ground, the splashing of water, and the squealing of a pig as hot water fell on him. Soon, everything became oddly silent as the squealing abruptly stopped. 'Oh no! Did P-Chan get hurt?' Ukyo shut her eyes, fearing the most, and groped out with her hands to find the piglet. "P-Chan?" she asked hesitantly. Then her right hand came in contact with a nose-a very un-piglike nose. A very human nose. 'What?' Ukyo's eyelids quickly shot up, a confused expression clearly on her face. But it vanished the moment she saw what-who-she had grabbed the nose of, and was replaced by a look of horror. Ukyo shrieked even louder than before, and was joined by, not the squealing of a piglet, but the screaming of a man.  
  
Ryoga Hibiki was lying naked on her floor.  
  
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *  
  
Author's Note: Sorry this chapter is amazingly short too. Ugh. It gets better though. Anyway, what did you think? Please review! ~ AmberWings 


	4. Beginning

Everything You Want  
  
* * * * * * * * * * *  
  
Disclaimer: Even though I wish I was the one who made Ranma 1/2 , I'm not. That goddess of good ideas, Rumiko Takahashi, did.  
  
Author's Note: There's a flashback in this... but saying anymore will give some things (minor things, I have to admit, but still) away. (I would've italicized it, but those darn html tags aren't working!) ^__^ So that's all I'm going to say. Anyway, on with the fic!  
  
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Chapter 4  
  
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Ukyo shut her eyes tightly while screeching her surprise to the entire world. Her confused thoughts raced around her head, like a wheel spinning without going anywhere. 'Ryoga? What? P-Chan?' She stood up and turned around to where she thought the general direction of the door was, and walked slowly towards it in case she hit a wall. And slowly her confusion turned to anger as something clicked in her mind. 'Hot water? A curse! Jusenkyou! Ryoga is P-CHAN!' She worked herself into a controlled rage. 'RYOGA...!' Her hands clenched, her nails gouged her skin, but she didn't notice. 'Lying to us like that!' she fumed. 'And I trusted you! I trusted you, and thought well of you! I even-' She cut her thoughts off, and let only one idea flood her mind. Whup Ryoga's fanny so bad, that he'd be able to feel it for weeks. She turned around briskly, her battle spatula out, eyes shut tightly, though she could sense him a little off to her right. 'Okay. Time to kick some fanny....'  
  
* * *  
  
At Ukyo's shriek, Ryoga leapt up and stared at his hands in shock. 'I'm human! The hot water must have hit me!' So he was fully human. Fully man. 'Oh. That explains a lot. Like the screaming, for one,' he thought to himself, strangely calm. But his tranquility only lasted a moment, as he realized what this could result in. His next thoughts were frantic. 'Gotta find something to hide myself with!' He looked around: there was a faded red-checkered dish cloth next to the sink, hanging carelessly off the counter. He snatched it up, and flung it around his waist, but to his despair it wasn't long enough to be able to tie. He searched frantically, and then remembered. 'My bandana!' He ripped it off his head, and tied the dish cloth to it. Then he tied it around his waist, forming some crude sort of loin cloth. And just in time, too, for at that moment, Ukyo swirled around, anger written in every feature on her face, her posture indicating her rage though her eyes were closed. 'Uh-oh. This can't be good. I've got to explain, before I lose someone else!' "Ukyo, no!" he shouted, as he prepared himself to block some sort of attack.  
  
And attack she did. Maybe it was because of her anger at him deceiving her, or him being in her kitchen as uncovered as he was. Because this time, the attack was strong- strengthened by anger, no doubt- and maybe it was even stronger than Ryoga's Shishi Hokkodan.  
  
And Ryoga couldn't block the attack.  
  
And Ryoga was knocked unconscious by the flat of her battle spatula.  
  
* * *  
  
Ukyo opened her eyes now at hearing the soft flump of his body hitting the ground. 'At least he's covered,' she growled fiercely, but even as she thought this, the anger was ebbing out of her. And then she just realized what she had done. 'I've knocked Ryoga unconscious! What'll I do?! I can't just let him sit there!' She quickly calmed herself, and analyzed the situation with amazing cool. 'He's unconscious, so I have to do something about that. Maybe a cold cloth for his forehead. Also, he is half naked counting that thing he has on. I have to find some clothing for him. And after that... what'll he do? Go wandering again?'  
  
Ukyo shook her head, and strode to the closet where she kept an extra blanket in case she cold. She took it back to where Ryoga lay, and spread it over him, covering everything except for his head. She proceeded to her bedroom where she found some things that were just too big for her- maybe they'd fit Ryoga. Ukyo was just glad for the moment that she dressed like a man. She took the clothing downstairs and placed them on the counter in the kitchen. Then she went to a cabinet in the kitchen where extra towels were stored. She grabbed a few, and toted them into the kitchen, where she soaked them thoroughly under icy cold water. Her fingers were numb after a few seconds of exposure to the frosty water, and she couldn't help but smile a grim little smile. 'Payback, Ryoga. While I help you, I'll be giving you frostbite.' She wrung the towels out- no use Ryoga turning back into a pig- and took the relatively dry, yet cold cloths over to him. She laid them flat on his forehead, and within a few moments he came to, shivering slightly. Ukyo couldn't help it- she smiled her dour smile again, and thought to herself, 'This isn't a lot of revenge, but you probably have a good reason for being in pig-form wandering around my restaurant when you could be at Akane's, who presumably doesn't know what- or who- you are.'  
  
Ukyo gazed at him, and kept her expression closed. "Why are you here, pig- boy?" she asked him. He sat up, paused, stopped shivering, and, to her immense surprise, started to pour the story out to her.  
  
* * *  
  
Ryoga came to, and shivered violently. There were cold towels on his head and a blanket covering him. 'What? Ukyo did this for me? But why-'  
  
His musings were cut short by Ukyo, who asked him shortly, "Why are you here, pig-boy?"  
  
Ryoga slowly brought himself into a sitting position, his head aching dully as he did so. 'Is she still mad at me? Should I tell her? Will she listen? What will she do?' he worried. But then he realized, 'She doesn't seem that mad at me.... She got me this blanket and helped me recover quickly. And knowing her, she might've very well left me here if she was still mad at me. I've got to tell her. She thinks rationally- maybe she'll even help me get over... Akane.' Another little wave of grief flowed over him, consuming him. 'I have to tell her.' And so he proceeded to tell her. Everything. From the very beginning.  
  
"Ukyo, it started about three days ago, when, as usual, I'd gotten lost."  
  
* * *  
  
Ryoga wandered through a forest, tired and hungry. 'Oh, Akane,' he thought, his heart bursting with repressed emotion, 'I would give my life just to see your face... hear your laugh... hear your voice....' At that exact moment, he heard her, his love, his life, Akane Tendo. By some strange quirk of fate, Ryoga was in the woods behind Furinkan High. But Akane was crying. Ryoga sprinted ahead, and was about to break cover when something inside of him said that it might be better if he heard this. So Ryoga obediently stopped, and listened to her.  
  
"C'mon, Akane, it isn't that bad," one of Akane's friends soothed. "Ranma was just being stupid... I bet he likes you."  
  
Ryoga felt his anger flare up. 'It was that idiot Ranma who made you cry! Akane, I'll kill him for you!' Just as he was about to run off and murder Ranma, he heard Akane's beautiful voice again.  
  
"I don't care if that pervert likes me!"  
  
Ryoga could have flown. Akane didn't like Ranma! He had a chance!  
  
"But Akane! You said you liked someone!" another girl gasped out. "Are you saying you like someone other than your fiancé?"  
  
"I hate that jerk, and I hate everything about him! He's so rude, so insulting!" Akane shouted to drown out the question, though there was still a slight under current of tears in her voice.  
  
Ryoga was floating on Cloud Nine. There was only one other male she liked that wasn't head-over-heels over another girl, and that was him! 'Could she be saying she loves me?!' While he was absorbed in the possibilities of his future with his love, Akane and her friends disappeared, their voices fading away into the clear afternoon sky.  
  
* * *  
  
Ukyo looked at Ryoga impassively. "So what did you do eventually, after you heard this?" she asked, keeping her voice free of all feeling on purpose.  
  
Ryoga rubbed the back of his head in a bewildered, yet sad sort of fashion. "I, uh, proposed to her later."  
  
Ukyo felt her heart plummet to the bottom of her feet. 'He... proposed?' "And your reasoning behind this?" she continued, hiding her emotions.  
  
Ryoga seemed a little depressed. "I... when I heard her talking, I... I thought... I thought she liked me." He shook his head, his anguish only too evident. "But I was wrong...."  
  
Ukyo didn't want Ryoga to be like this. He had seemed almost happy while he was telling his story. 'So why don't I let him continue?' She looked him straight in his eyes, honey-gold to coffee-brown. "Continue."  
  
* * *  
  
When Ryoga realized they had vanished, he was upset. 'Now I'll never find her all because of my stupid sense of direction!' he moaned inwardly. He raced towards what had been the general direction of Akane's voice and left the woods, but she wasn't there. He kept on running, though, intent on finding his russet-eyed angel and getting back the heart he had lost to her. But he couldn't find her; the only thing he found was dejection. 'If I can't find her, I can never tell her my feelings! And if she doesn't know them, she may be forced to marry Ranma!' He could hardly bear the thought: his lovely Akane, trapped with a man she didn't love! 'I have to find her! She loves me, doesn't she? She as good as said it back there!'  
  
But a small, detached, all-too-blunt corner of his mind asked him, 'But what if she doesn't love you? When her friend asked her if she loved Ranma, she just avoided answering the question. She might love him.'  
  
But Ryoga stubbornly refused to listen to what his mind had to say. He continued to roam the city, searching for her, but he couldn't find Akane anywhere. And for once, he couldn't even stumble upon the Dojo. And just as the stars began to gleam in the blue-black night sky, the tired wanderer pulled off his pack in an empty clearing to take a quick rest. There were many different plants all around him, which Ryoga dismissed as weeds. He then lay back on his pack, and tried to clear his head so he could relax. But his mind, at last undistracted, came back to haunt him relentlessly.  
  
'Akane might not love you... she might love Ranma....'  
  
'How can you say such a thing? Akane loves me, I can feel it!' Ryoga replied, aghast.  
  
'Yes, she may love you... but she only loves you the way she'd love a brother,' that frank part of him told him.  
  
Ryoga was shaking inside. 'What if... what if that's right?' he trembled, completely overcome by doubt. But doubt held him only for a heartbeat. 'Akane does love me! Can't I have a little faith in her?'  
  
He could sense that part of him readying another argument, but he quelled it immediately. 'I don't have to listen to that... it's only me! It's not like Akane was telling me that!' Ryoga shifted his position the minutest bit so that his head was resting on pack. 'Akane does love me... I'm sure of it!' And holding that thought to his heart the way a child may hang on to a stuffed animal when frightened, Ryoga fell into a slumber filled with dreams of his ebon-haired queen, Akane.  
  
The next morning, Ryoga awoke, fully rested. He stretched languidly under a sunny, azure-blue sky. Only a handful of clouds drifted lazily across it, looking like a flock of sheep grazing in a field of cerulean grass. From the position of the sun, Ryoga could tell that it was around nine in the morning. 'I really overslept last night,' he thought, though he felt a little pleased that he had done something so different for a change.  
  
The black-haired man sat up and looked around him, and his breath stopped for a moment when he took in the beauty surrounding him. The plants that he had called weeds were anything but- they were wildflowers, and liberally scattered all among them were small, golden sun-flowers.  
  
'It's almost like an omen!' Ryoga thought, his eyes glistening with happiness. 'A good omen! Perhaps this is the day I'll tell Akane the way I feel!' Ryoga took in a deep breath. He felt so hopeful, so happy, so full of life. Wanting to take some luck along with him, Ryoga started picking the most perfect flowers he could find. He created a lush bouquet, and around it tied a scrap of cloth he dug out of his pack.  
  
Taking a deep breath of the air which seemed so pure and clean, he strode out of the clearing, back the way he came. His heart seemed so light; it was floating. 'No... floating is too much of an understatement. My heart is flying! I feel free, I feel alive!'  
  
As he walked along the road, so completely lost in his thoughts, he didn't realize that he was going to collide with someone. And when he did, they both stumbled back a bit. "Sorry," he mumbled as he shook his head slightly to clear it. Only when he looked up did he realize who it was.  
  
"Akane!" he said, startled.  
  
"Ryoga!" she replied, smiling more brightly than the sun's rays. "Ryoga, I haven't seen you in a while!" Akane's expression was delighted, and that only made Ryoga's heart contract painfully, watching her and not being able to touch her. Yet.  
  
"Akane, I haven't seen you either," he answered; his voice was quiet, but had a hint of hardly contained joy. He looked deeply into her eyes, those two brown pools of light, and felt so content. 'Now... now is the time.' "A- Akane?"  
  
"Yeah?" she asked. Now her face had an odd look; it was that of mild curiosity and a mixture of other things.  
  
"Um...." 'C'mon, Ryoga, think of something to tell her! Something she'll love! And give her the flowers already!' Ryoga groped for a moment, and held the flowers up to Akane's confused face. "Akane, I've been lost for all this time, and just now, I've found my way," he said, his voice starting to tremble with suppressed emotion.  
  
"What do you mean, Ryoga?"  
  
Ryoga fumbled with the words, and finally reached what he deemed the right thing to say. "What I mean is, just up till now, I've been confused. And now, I... I....um...." 'Ryoga, you idiot, you're messing it up! Now just hurry up and get it done with before you disgust her or something!' "I, um, Akanewillyoumarryme?" Mentally he kicked himself repeatedly. 'Yeah, that was smooth!'  
  
"Excuse me? I couldn't understand you; you were speaking too fast," Akane said, somewhat perplexed.  
  
Taking a deep breath, and summoning more courage than he had ever needed before, he said it normally. "Akane, will you marry me?"  
  
Akane froze on the spot, and had Ryoga been looking her in the face instead of at his clasped hands, he would have seen the blood drain from her face.  
  
'But she loves me, doesn't she?' he thought, when suddenly he realized something. "Akane, if you need to talk to your family about this, I'll come back tomorrow to the Dojo around noon."  
  
Akane merely nodded, and took the proffered bouquet mechanically, not really noticing. Then she walked numbly in the direction of her dojo.  
  
As Ryoga watched her vanishing back, he felt like punching himself. 'Ryoga, you idiot! She doesn't like you! See the way she reacted?' He shook his blue-black head, to ashamed to do anything else. But then he grasped something else. "Maybe, just maybe, she acted like that because it came as a shock. I'm not sure she realized how much I love her until today," he said aloud to himself. "And maybe, she was thinking about what she would tell her father." And with that, he turned around and walked the opposite direction Akane had taken. 'She does love me. I know it. This... this just came as a shock to her, that's all....'  
  
* * *  
  
"What happened after that?" Ukyo asked. She was still keeping her voice impassionate. She didn't want Ryoga to know how she felt about this. 'I feel... I don't know what. Is it... ah, never mind. Right now, I have to pay attention to Ryoga.' She shook her head the tiniest bit, and listened to what the raven-haired man had to say.  
  
"I... I just kind of wandered after that until night. I bought some food when I got hungry, and around nightfall, I stumbled upon a park. I found a clump of bushes far away from the pond, and went to sleep," Ryoga said, with just the tiniest hint sadness in his voice.  
  
'Who knew telling my story would help so much?' the man wondered, though his heart was still bleeding, however slowly. 'But right now I'm at the part when I'm happy... what will it be like when I get to the part when I'm torn to pieces and trodden on?' He shook his head, and went on.  
  
* * *  
  
That morning when Ryoga woke up, he couldn't help but feel nervous. Even though he had assured himself many times that Akane loved him, he still felt tense. Ryoga stretched again, in such a way that every vertebrae in his back popped back into place. Ryoga had slept on quite a few rocks last night, and several of them weren't smooth in the least bit. He looked at the length of the shadows, and figured out that it would be noon in a couple hours. He also figured out that he was very hungry.  
  
Sighing, he stood up and picked up his pack. He dug his rough hand into a scuffed pocket, and pulled out around 500 yen. 'Yes! I can get something to eat!' He meandered around the park's paths, making sure that he didn't leave the gravel or the park. It just wouldn't do to find himself on another continent the day he expected to get married.  
  
After 30 minutes or so, he found a man selling some food off a cart. Though he knew he was being cheated out of his money by its ridiculous price, he bought some anyway. 'It just smells too good....' And the food was, he had to admit, delicious. Not as good as Kasumi's, but tasty nevertheless. He savored every delectable morsel, and when he finished, he asked the food peddler what time it was.  
  
The man looked at his watch, and told him, "Around eleven-ten, sir."  
  
Ryoga thanked the man, and decided it would be best to start to try and find the dojo soon. 'But what if I get lost? I could end up on top of Mount Everest if I'm not careful!' he groaned mentally. 'I hate this god-forsaken sense of direction I have. It is so embarrassing to find myself in the middle of a lake as a pig when I only meant to go to a different room in a building. But as a minor consolation, not many people know that I'm the pig.' Sighing to himself, Ryoga walked over to one of the benches along the side of the path. He kept his eyes firmly upon it without blinking, for even if he closed his eyes for a nanosecond and then opened them, he'd find himself heading a different direction.  
  
Once he made it to the green painted bench, he sat down upon it heavily. Ideas of getting to the Dojo seemed to flicker in front of his eyes, all of them seeming stupider than the last. 'I've got to figure out something quickly! My chances of being with my Akane are slipping!' He sat with his chin in his hands, slouched over, when a woman passed in front of him. "Excuse me, ma'am!" he called to her.  
  
The woman looked back at him, seeming a little annoyed. "Yes?"  
  
Ryoga paused for a moment, considering his choices. "Do you know hot to get to the Tendo Dojo?"  
  
The woman scowled at him darkly, and replied with all-too evident aggravation, "No, I don't." She turned about quickly and her hair lashed out behind her, like an enraged python.  
  
'Well, at least ask for the time, Ryoga!' He shouted mentally to himself. "Do you know the time?" he shouted after her.  
  
She glanced at her watch quickly, and answered with poorly hidden impatience, "Eleven-thirty!" And with that, she took off with a quick stride, as if trying to get out of hearing range before the man could ask any more questions.  
  
Ryoga looked back at his callused hands with very slight panic- what if he couldn't get to Akane's in time? Then suddenly, a young boy, around twelve years old, walked slowly in front of him, muttering to himself about getting some money. 'I have an idea,' he thought, pleased with his quick- thinking. 'And it just might work if my experience with Nabiki is applicable to this kid....'  
  
"Hey, you there!" he said to the boy, letting just a little urgency seep into his voice. The young child looked at him warily, and seemed ready to bolt at any moment. "I heard you need money- if you take me to the Tendo Dojo, I'll give you ten yen! Do you know where it is?"  
  
The boy nodded eagerly. "Yes, yes I know where it is! I'll take you there right now if you want me to!"  
  
Ryoga hid a smile. 'Maybe when Nabiki was young she was as willing to get money as this kid.' "Okay, then. Lead the way."  
  
The boy walked with long strides, and seemed to have a business-like purpose to his steps as Ryoga followed him. 'Yes, I don't doubt it,' he thought, greatly amused, 'Nabiki was probably a lot like this kid.'  
  
Soon Ryoga's thoughts drifted to more important thoughts... namely those about Akane. And about her marrying him.  
  
* * *  
  
"What exactly do you mean by thoughts about her marrying you?" Ukyo questioned.  
  
Ryoga hung his head. "I meant what everyone would think if I married her. Who would be happy. Who would be angry. Who would be upset. Who would try to wring her neck and mine."  
  
Inside, the okonomiyaki chef blushed. She was sure that she was on one of his lists. 'Probably under the 'happy' category.' She smiled internally to herself, a smile that was not quite amused yet not quite sad yet not quite bitter all at the same time. Her emotions were so mixed up ever since her last encounter with Ranma. She quickly shoved that thought out of her mind. 'Better not think of that now... I need to focus on Ryoga here.'  
  
Externally, she kept her face passive. Something inside of her said it would be best if she had an impartial face on. That maybe, maybe, it might make her thoughts impartial. 'But it's really not working....' She shook her head slightly again to clear it, and Ryoga seemed to take that as a sign to go on.  
  
"When I got there, not only was Akane there, but the rest of her family and the Saotomes. I gave my guide the money I promised him, and then asked Akane.... I asked her if she would marry me. She... she said... no." Ryoga shuddered visibly. He could feel the hot liquid starting to form at his eyes, but he refused to let them fall. He only blinked his eyes rapidly in a futile attempt to clear them.  
  
Ukyo felt helpless. She wanted to help Ryoga, to give him a shoulder to cry on. But she knew him all too well. He would only spurn it, rather than easing his pain and showing his weakness. And then his despair was all too much....  
  
She could almost feel it, coming off of his body in palpable waves. She almost felt the need to break down and sob herself. 'How is it that the man can affect me so much?' she cried to herself, half in frustration and half in... some emotion she couldn't name. "It's okay, Ryoga... I'm here for you," Ukyo whispered, so silently that she was sure Ryoga hadn't heard it, for he was so swallowed by his distress. Ryoga made no motion that he had heard her anyway-he seemed to be mentally debating something inside, but he seemed to finally reach a decision.  
  
Ryoga looked at Ukyo with eyes full of grief and... pity? And then he told her, "As I was leaving, I heard Ranma and Akane talking.... I think Ranma was telling her that he loved her."  
  
Ukyo's tawny-colored eyes filled with resent, and she replied bitterly, "I know."  
  
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *  
  
Author's Note: Wow! My longest chapter yet! I feel happy! And you should feel proud of yourselves if you managed to figure out where the flashback scenes were. Also, kudos to whoever figured out that sometimes I rewrite a scene twice, but under someone else's point of view. Anyway... review now if you haven't already. Thanks! ~ AmberWing 


	5. Truth

Everything You Want  
  
* * * * * * * * * * *  
  
Disclaimer: Hey, I didn't create Ranma ½. Rumiko Takahashi did. So don't even attempt to sue me! Author's Note: The song is "Running Away" by Hoobastank. It just seems like a song between to friends who broke up, which is why I chose it. Urgent Author's Note: I know! This chapter will be just too much out of character! But the chorus of the song forced me to, even though the rest of the song seemed to fit. Really Urgent Author's Note: No flames on this! PLEASE!  
  
* * * * * * * * * * * *  
  
Chapter 5  
  
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Ryoga looked shocked. "You... you knew?" he asked, hardly able to keep the incredulity, sadness and pity out of his voice.  
  
The corners of Ukyo's mouth stretched in a caricature of a smile. It gave her face the look of a bleak and tormented soul. "I didn't know that Ranma was telling Akane that he loved her, but I knew that Ranma loved her."  
  
"How did you find out?"  
  
Ukyo winced, and her eyes started to tear up immediately; evidently the memory still pained her. "It was a few days ago...."  
  
* * *  
  
Ukyo was sick of it. Sick of it all. Sick of the many fiancés chasing her Ranma-honey, sick of the way Akane always maltreated him, sick of all the ditzes that constantly fought her like Kodachi and Shampoo, and most of all, sick of the way her Sugar always avoided answering her question. 'What is with Ranchan? Why doesn't he ever tell me he loves me?' she thought to herself, her frustration so obvious that it was a miracle she didn't hurt anything. But tonight... tonight she was going to corner him; corner him and find out if he really loved her or was just keeping her hanging so he could get free food.  
  
'Tonight is so beautiful...,' Ukyo thought as she wandered down the empty streets of Nerima. And it truly was. The sky was cobalt-blue, and it gleamed with stars that seemed like miniscule shards of crystal. It was almost completely silent except for the normal night sounds, like crickets and night birds. A perfect night for Ranma to profess her his love for her. Ukyo smiled to herself, a smile full of hope, content, and pleasure. 'Yes... a very perfect night.'  
  
Her footsteps echoed in the clear streets, and she decided she would speed up just a little. She started running silently, her feet making no sound as the touched the ground with each stride. And very soon, she reached her destination: the Tendo Dojo. She leapt over the fence and quietly stole into the backyard, avoiding the koi pond lest something fell into and made a noise. Once there, she jumped to the tree, and onto the roof. Ukyo checked to make sure no one had awoken, and then walked along the roof. She finally found Ranma-honey's window, open to the summer air, and without a whisper of sound swung into the dark room.  
  
She was immediately assaulted by a noise louder than a fog horn. Startled at first, she then realized that it was just Ranchan's father. 'Good. No one will be able to hear anything.' Slowly she moved towards Ranma, not even making an attempt to be silent when all sound was covered. Finally, she reached her blue-gray eyed fiancé, and gently shook his shoulder while speaking loudly, "Ranma-honey, wake up."  
  
The boy she was speaking to arose soundlessly, and stared at her, surprised. "Ukyo, why are you here?"  
  
"C'mon, Ranma-honey, I need some questions answered," the amber-eyed girl told him in a tone that merited no argument. "Come to the roof--it's quieter there." Ukyo went back through the window, and vaulted onto the roof. She didn't need to look back--she knew Ranma would follow from sheer curiosity.  
  
She was right. The moment she had reached a comfortable position on the roof, the black-haired boy leaped up with a hastily pulled on shirt. Ukyo, why are you here?" he asked again, a yawn punctuating his sentence. Ukyo could tell that Ranma was half-asleep. 'Good. Maybe I'll get a direct, honest answer.'  
  
"I need an answer Ranma-kun... I need to know. I am tired of the way your fiancées come into my restaurant and destroy it every now and then. I'm tired of the times that fiancées come and disrupt my moments with you. I'd like to know if my putting up with it is all worthwhile, and if you love me."  
  
Ranma woke up completely at that. 'Aw...! She wants ta know how I feel! It'll hurt her if I tell her the truth!' So Ranma did what he had to do.  
  
"Ranma, you jerk!" Ukyo yelled after his fleeing figure. 'That idiot! He's trying to escape answering!' Ukyo then realized what that could mean. 'He... he might not love me.... But I have to find out! I have to follow him!' She gave chase over the rooftops, following him the best she could. Ukyo was just glad that he was still a little tired; otherwise, she would never catch him. Finally, after taking a few shortcuts, she caught up to him.  
  
She grabbed his arm, and jerked him around. She looked him straight in his eyes--they seemed like blue flames--and asked him with a resigned tone, "Ranma, answer me. Don't run away. Do you love me or not?"  
  
Ranma panicked. 'What am I s'posed ta do? I can't just tell her! She'll hate me! I'll lose one of my best friends! She might also just DO NOTHIN' after, just sit there and cry!'  
  
*I don't want you to give it all up And leave your own life collecting dust*  
  
Shaking his head, he finally reached a conclusion. 'Just... just do it gently....' He took a deep breath, and tried to comfort her.  
  
"Look, Ukyo, I, um... well, uh, ya see, I don't think we were, uh, meant for each other, an'-- "  
  
The brunette cut him off, anger and hurt in her face. "Don't try comforting me! And you can't say that we were never meant for each other! You never even tried to see!" Tears started to flood her eyes, making it difficult to see Ranma-honey's face.  
  
*And I don't want you to feel sorry for me You never gave us a chance to be*  
  
Ranma felt unsure of what to do. 'What does Kasumi do for 'kane when she's feelin' bad?' He thought a moment, and then remembered. 'Oh yeah! She pats her back or lets her cry on her shoulder!' The pig-tailed boy walked over to his friend, and awkwardly put an arm on her shoulder. "Um, it's O.K. Ukyo-- " he started again, and was again interrupted by Ukyo, this time when she threw his arm off her shoulder.  
  
"Stop it, Ranma!" she cried, half in tears and half enraged. "I don't need you to come and try to treat me like some little kid, telling me, 'It's O.K. Ukyo'!"  
  
*And I don't need you to be by my side To tell me that everything's alright*  
  
Wiping her eyes as best as she could with her sleeve and failing miserably, she told Ranma, "You don't have to diplomatic about it. You can just tell me straight out, 'Ukyo, I don't like you.' Just tell me the reality, not what I want to hear! Isn't that what friends do?! Be honest with each other?!"  
  
*I just wanted you to tell me the truth You know I'd do that for you*  
  
"Look, Ranma, you know that old saying 'never run away from the truth'?! That's what you should be doing. Tell me already, bluntly or not! What's keeping you from doing it?!" Ukyo shouted, her voice growing hoarse from sadness, tears, anger, and screaming too much.  
  
*So why are you running away? Why are you running away?*  
  
Ranma was bewildered. 'Ukyo? Why... why're you doin' this? You were never like this b'fore! Can't ya see I don't wanna hurt you?' He cast his mind around, trying to think of an excuse that wouldn't hurt her, and finally hit one. "Ukyo... I... I... I don't think we could, ya know, be together. We were, uh, too different."  
  
Ukyo scowled at him, angered that he was telling such an outright lie in an attempt to make her see that they couldn't get married. "Ranma, that is not an excuse! I was ready to give up everything I loved just to be with you! I tried to stop okonomiyaki for you for god's sake! So you can't even begin to tell me that load of garbage!"  
  
*'Cause I did enough to show you that I Was willing to give and sacrifice*  
  
The caramel-eyed woman breathed in deeply, and tried to think what the reason was Ranma didn't like her. 'I don't know! I was always there for him, even as kids! I helped you when you were in trouble, then and now!'  
  
*And I was the one who was lifting you up When you thought your life had had enough*  
  
Finally all the anger just surged right out of her. Ukyo could have sent up a heart-wrenching wail her for her misery was so intense. 'Ranma, why don't you love me? Why?' Now that she thought about it, Ranma had always been like that ever since he was with Akane. 'Like at that Christmas party... when we were on the bench on the roof, he went all the way into the corner, away from me. Does he hate me that much?'  
  
*And when I get close you turn away There's nothing that I can do or say*  
  
Turning her tear streaked face up to Ranma's clear one, she asked him softly, "I'll say it again... why won't you tell me the truth? Do you hate me that much that you have to leave me hanging on to my hopes when you know they're unreachable?"  
  
*So now I need you to tell me the truth You know I'd do that for you*  
  
"Ukyo, you know I don't hate you," Ranma said quietly, for once in his life saying the right thing.  
  
Ukyo's wet face shone whitely in the moonlight, making her look like a fleeting spirit. "If you didn't hate me, you'd tell me openly what you felt."  
  
*So why are you running away? Why are you running away?*  
  
Ukyo was getting nowhere with this, and she refused to leave with assumptions instead of Ranma's actual thoughts. She decided to try something different.  
  
"Ranma... I know you don't love me. But is there anything I can change about myself or do to make you love me? I need to know, know that I have at least a chance."  
  
*Is it me, is it you Nothing that I can do To make you change your mind*  
  
Ranma maintained his quiet, and looked away from her to the starry night sky.  
  
'Ranma... is my waiting for you to answer nothing? Should I just stop staying here and leave, to keep myself from fading away?'  
  
*Is it me, is it you Nothing that I can do Is it a waste of time?*  
  
Trying to make herself look stronger than she felt, she ordered him with a firm voice, "Ranma, answer me. You aren't telling me what I can do to make you love me."  
  
But Ranma remained silent, which was answer enough.  
  
*Is it me, is it you Nothing that I can do To make you change your mind*  
  
'Ranma... this isn't working either,' Ukyo sobbed mentally to herself. 'Please, please, please just tell me, and stop making my heart bleed to death. Every moment of your silence is like a knife stabbing my back! Please... just end my torment and tell me! It wouldn't kill me... I think....'  
  
*So why are you running away? Why are you running away?*  
  
The chocolate-haired girl shivered in anguish, but Ranma couldn't see because his eyes were averted from her. 'Please, Ranma... Just tell me. What should I tell you to make you tell me?'  
  
*...What is it I've got to say...*  
  
"Ranma... please. Can you please tell me? I... I don't want to leave with any guesses. I want what you really feel," Ukyo said, while her heart was being smashed into shards and fragments.  
  
Ranma turned around, and noticed with alarm her face and how twisted in sorrow it was. "Ukyo... I...."  
  
*So why are you running away?*  
  
Ranma stopped talking. 'Ukyo... I can tell I'm breaking you into pieces.... I scared that you'll do somethin' desperate!'  
  
"Please, Ranma.... Tell me. I need to hear."  
  
*...To make you admit you're afraid...*  
  
"But, Ukyo...!"  
  
"Tell me."  
  
*Why are you running away?*  
  
Taking a deep breath, Ranma said it. "Ukyo... I don't love you like that, the way you love me." He jabbed his finger at his chest for emphasis, and looked meaningfully into her anguished eyes. "I love you like I'd love a sister."  
  
Whatever was left of Ukyo's heart splintered at that, and she hunched her shoulders over in defeat, dejection, and exhaustion. "I... I understand, Ranma." Just as she started to leave, she turned around again. "Ranma, who do you love? I won't harm her or anything... I'll leave you in peace. It won't hurt me anymore. Who?" 'He can't love Kodachi, she's just insane... and he might not love Shampoo, he's always pushing her away... so that means he loves--'  
  
Ranma looked at her seriously, and said, "Ukyo, I don't want you to do nothin', 'kay? Don't do anythin' you'll regret later." And as an afterthought, he added sincerely, with a hint of a blush in his voice, "I... I... I...Akane."  
  
And with that, Ukyo leaped away, leaving behind who she had thought was her best friend and love.  
  
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *  
  
Author's Note: So what did you think? Good? Bad? (I think it was bad... awfully repetitive...) Yes, I know the characters are a little out of character... no need to tell me. (Yes, if you want, you can refer to the series of A/N's at the top of the piece, before the chapter started.) So anyway, please review! I'd really appreciate it! ~ AmberWings 


	6. Recovering

Everything You Want  
  
* * * * * * * * * * *  
  
Disclaimer: Feh, I'm sick of writing this part. Please refer to disclaimer in Chapters 1 - 5.  
  
Author's Note: OOCness alert! OOCness alert! Ryoga and Ukyo are extremely OOC! (Tell me how bad I was at portraying them in a review, 'kay?)  
  
Another Author's Note: Hey! I'd just like to thank all of my reviewers who reviewed all during the story... I love you all! Thanks to you, I've kept on with the story! And now here's the final chapter! (That is, excluding the Ranma and Akane one that comes after this and the epilogue.) And at the end of the story are replies to all the reviews! Just like to say again...THANKS! ~ AmberWings  
  
So anyway, you are probably tired of my psychotic-babbling... so on with the final chapter!  
  
* * * * * * * * * * * *  
  
Chapter 6  
  
* * * * * * * * * * * *  
  
"And that's how I found out...." Ukyo's tears were unmistakable, and Ryoga felt his heart go out to her.  
  
'She lost someone, too... but she didn't have anyone to help her and get it off her chest,' he realized, causing him to respect the okonomiyaki chef even more than he had before. 'And she went through days of this! I only went through it for one!' At the reminder, he glimpsed momentarily at a clock that was hanging on the wall to his right. 'It's 11:47... have we been talking for that long?' But he cleared his mind of that thought; Ukyo needed his help, after all.  
  
'But what can I do? I can hardly heal my own heart, never mind someone else's....' But at the thought, he punched himself mentally. 'Ryoga! How can you be such a selfish jerk? You have to help her... you might be the only one who can.... She has no one to talk to other than Ranma, and Ranma is the cause of all this!' Even thinking Ranma's name now made him angry; not a quick flash of anger, but a slow, smoldering rage that could give him the fuel to do anything. And he wasn't really sure if it was because of Akane he was this angry....  
  
But then he saw Ukyo's shoulders spasm in silent, wracking sobs, as she covered her face from Ryoga's view, and reminded himself of Ukyo's need. 'Forget Ranma!' he shouted at himself. Forget everyone! Forget everything! Forget what happened this morning! You even have to forget Akane! The only thing that matters right now is what's happening right now! And that's Ukyo!' His resolution for never forgetting Akane faded; she didn't love him, and never would. Realizing that invoked an uncontrollable and confusing outpour of emotion: anger and misery, release and restraint, relief and strain.  
  
Somewhere inside his mind, deep inside his mind, he knew that he would never be able to help Ukyo if he let his grief consume him. 'I won't be sad by losing Akane,' he told himself firmly, though he still felt tormented. But his will was strong, and managed to convince him to stop.  
  
'Now that you think about it objectively, Ryoga,' his will hissed at him, 'you aren't even sure if your feelings for Akane were love. They could have been infatuation.'  
  
'Either that,' he thought back, 'or a different sort of love that I am really not familiar with. I'm sure that this is the reason.'  
  
Then he again realized that he had strayed off topic, and he again berated himself.  
  
Now that his anguish was contained--barely, he knew the hold would last only temporarily, and it would have to be dealt with later--he stood up to help Ukyo. Then he realized that he was only wearing a rag and a bandanna. He quickly covered himself with the blanket, and was about to tie it over himself when his eyes fell upon an extremely large pair of pants and shirt, which Ukyo had probably left for him. The shirt wouldn't fit him, obviously, for the shoulders were too narrow. But the pants might.  
  
He snagged it off the chair, ripped off the cloth-bandanna, and hurriedly put it on underneath the blanket. It fit, though it was still a little tight. But that didn't matter. 'I have to help Ukyo.' He stood up again, and this time walked over to Ukyo, a little hesitant of what to do. 'Okay. I decided I'd help her. Now how do I?!' He tossed the shirt off the chair, and pulled it close to Ukyo, where he sat down on it, next to her.  
  
'What do I do now?'  
  
* * *  
  
Ukyo wept for everything. She grieved over her lost friend, Ranma. She mourned for her love that she had lost. She wailed for herself and her overwhelming loneliness. She cried for her frustration in the world and everything else. And she sobbed for Ryoga, the only other person whom fate seemed to despise as much her.  
  
Just as she thought that, she heard Ryoga stand up and sit back down suddenly. She took notice of a whoosh of cloth, and the scraping of a chair against the ground. Then she sensed Ryoga sit down next to her.  
  
Her weeping slowed and quieted, and at that moment she felt Ryoga put a trembling hand on her shoulder.  
  
"Ukyo," was the only thing he said, and he seemed to be searching for the right words. "Ukyo," he repeated, "I... I know how you feel." His voice shook slightly, and she could tell that he was barely restraining dry, tearless sobs. "I... I know you... lost someone you love. I... have too. And I... I know how horrible it is to see someone you love, and... and know that you can never touch them. And... and Ukyo...." He paused, and she could almost feel him thinking about what to say next. "Ukyo, the old saying is 'pain shared is pain halved'."  
  
Ukyo could hardly comprehend what he meant for a moment. But then she realized... and flung herself into his arms, where she grieved, and he held her protectively.  
  
* * *  
  
Ryoga was stunned for a moment. Ukyo had flung her small, narrow body into his arms, something he was never even suspecting to happen. 'What? She.... but, I, and, so--' His mind was reeling for a moment until he realized that was babbling. 'Calm down, Ryoga... you have to comfort Ukyo now.' But the pain and depression that had been hammering on his iron will finally grew too much. The combined force of both his emotions and Ukyo's managed to tear down Ryoga's barriers against Akane and her memory. And as the last scraps of his shield vanished, one thought came unbidden to his mind.  
  
'How can I comfort her when I can't even help myself?'  
  
* * *  
  
Ukyo suddenly felt Ryoga's arms tremble, and a hot liquid slightly dampen her hair in an instant. 'Poor Ryoga,' Ukyo thought sadly. 'He needs someone as much as I do.' So then she put her arms around him, and embraced him tightly. 'It's a mystery how much simple contact helps...,' a detached corner of her mind mused as Ukyo felt her loneliness and distress drain out of her. Though the coldness and emptiness of her heart was still there, it was now bearable instead of overpowering.  
  
"Hey, Ryoga...," she said, her voice slightly muffled.  
  
"Yes?" Ryoga's voice was still quavering, probably from both sadness and shame from crying.  
  
"There's one thing we both have in common."  
  
"What's that?"  
  
The coffee-haired woman smiled weakly into Ryoga's chest; had she not been so preoccupied with her thoughts, she would have realized that it was the first true smile since her meeting with Ranma. "You fell in love with Akane, and I with Ranma. We both fell in love with someone unreachable...."  
  
Ryoga remained silent, and Ukyo could feel him grow slightly cold. She subconsciously cursed herself; why did she have to remind him of that painful memory? She might as well be cutting his wrists! "I... I'm sorry Ryoga," she whispered, feeling ashamed. And again, had she not been so engrossed with her thoughts, she would have realized that mentioning Ranma's name wasn't painful anymore.  
  
Ryoga merely shook his head, and Ukyo could feel another flow of hot water trickling into her hair.  
  
'Ukyo, you jackass!' she shouted at herself. 'Look what you did! Now Ryoga's upset again! Don't you remember how fragile his heart is? You keep on shattering it, over and over and over again by mentioning Akane!' She would have continued in this vein for a while if Ryoga hadn't spoken.  
  
"I... it's... it's okay, Ukyo...."  
  
Ukyo was shocked, even more than when she found out about Ranma's curse. 'What? He, he just says it's okay? He's not sobbing anymore? Not mourning anymore, not crying anymore? What happened?'  
  
* * *  
  
When Ukyo pulled him close to her, the black-haired man wasn't sure what to think. 'Why is she... why is she hugging me? Does she... does she... no. She, she's just trying to comfort me, nothing else.' But the thought made him feel a little desolate. 'Why am I feeling miserable? It's not like I... but... never mind.'  
  
Whatever the reason, it didn't matter, because he suddenly started to feel a little better. He still felt horrible, still as if his heart and soul had been ripped out of him and shredded, but to a lesser degree.  
  
'Ukyo... I just... thank you.'  
  
He was about to relax the tiniest bit into the tawny-eyed woman's embrace when she broke the thick silence that they were drowning in. "Hey, Ryoga...," she said, her voice sounding a little hoarse from all the crying.  
  
"Yes?" he replied, and to his greatest shame, his voice was shaky.  
  
"There's one thing we both have in common," she told him, her voice steady much to his embarrassment.  
  
Ryoga was curious. 'What do we both have in common?' he wondered. 'Well, I won't know unless I answer.' "What's that?"  
  
"You fell in love with Akane, and I with Ranma. We both fell in love with someone unreachable...."  
  
Ryoga's ebony eyes clouded over with regret, and he felt himself stiffen and turn cold. 'Akane?' He mourned at her name; she had slipped his mind when Ukyo hugged him. He nodded his head so that maybe she wouldn't feel his tears.  
  
But she clearly must have felt them, for her next words were, "I... I'm sorry Ryoga."  
  
He felt utterly depressed. 'Why should she be sorry?' Ryoga thought sadly to himself. 'She only pointed out what was obvious. It's not a crime.' He sighed mentally, and let his misery wash over him, and was about to drown in it when he realized how guilty Ukyo must have been feeling. 'I can't leave her like that, feeling guilty when she isn't. I should put her at ease.' "I... it's... it's okay, Ukyo...," he said, a little awkwardly, with a deep sorrow eating away at him like a slow, powerful acid.  
  
Ukyo looked stunned. The black-haired man grinned dryly, an expression completely devoid of humor and cheer. It exposed his fangs, giving him the face of some sort of agonized creature. 'She didn't see that coming. Bet she thought I'd either cry or breakdown or something.'  
  
Had Ryoga not been so focused on his whirling thoughts, he would have noticed that he was able to think about things so irrelevant and laugh at them--though it was empty of mirth--which was a sign that he was recovering from his loss from earlier that day.  
  
* * *  
  
'I can't believe he took that the way he did,' Ukyo told herself for the hundredth time. 'He... he must be getting over her.' She sighed gustily while an unexplainable bubble of happiness welled up inside of her. Absentmindedly she thought to herself as she squeezed Ryoga a little tighter, 'I guess I should be getting over Ranma....' She sighed again; this time Ryoga held her closer and patted her back a bit uneasily yet in a comforting way.  
  
She smiled a little tiredly, and relaxed into his warm embrace. But as soon as she relaxed, she started feeling a little drowsy. 'Ryoga is so sweet. I like him, but how? As a friend, a brother, or something else?' A deeper examination of her thoughts proved what she felt. 'He's... and I... but.... Maybe he....'  
  
Ukyo never got to finish the thought, for right away she fell into a not-so- deep sleep.  
  
* * *  
  
Ryoga felt Ukyo go limp all of a sudden. 'What? What happened?' He shifted her ever so slightly, and then realized--she had fallen asleep. Ryoga couldn't help but smile. 'After all the heart ache and pain we've been through today, she does something as simple as sleep.' Yet again, the world proved to him that women were unpredictable. 'Like Akane.'  
  
He shook his head gently as to not wake the woman in his arms up. 'Well, I guess I should take her up to her room.' Ryoga was about to lift her up into a carrying position when he realized that it would awaken her. 'I shouldn't wake her up.... She doesn't deserve that.' He analyzed their positions, and then realized something: no matter where he moved or what he did, she'd stop sleeping. 'So what do I do?' He had a quick mental battle, and then he finally reached his conclusion. 'I won't wake her up. At least in sleep she can escape the nightmare that is reality.'  
  
He sighed, and then realized, that since he didn't have the kind of agility and flexibility Ranma did--that if he didn't want to wake her up, he'd have to stay in the same position.  
  
All night.  
  
'Well, it seems like it's five in the morning,' Ryoga mused to himself. 'I can keep myself awake. What's a couple hours to some of the training I had to undergo?'  
  
The black-haired man checked the clock on the wall, and if it weren't for the danger of waking Ukyo up, he would've fallen out of his chair. '12:14?! I'm going have to stay up for at least six hours!' He sighed, and then told himself firmly, 'I'm not that tired....' He shook his head again, but this time was suddenly overcome by a wave of dizziness. And he knew only too well what was wrong with him: fatigue. 'But I feel so awake!' he thought. But as soon as that idea was completed another wave hit him, as if his body was trying to prove himself wrong. Black-brown eyes fogged over in annoyance, and the owner could hardly stifle a groan. 'Who am I kidding? I'm exhausted! Too much has happened to me today one after the other with no break in between!'  
  
He closed his eyes briefly to clear the blackness from his mind. He went over his options: either wake Ukyo up but have her drown in misery again, or sit here all night, awake and worn out. He was about to choose between the two when another one hit him like a stone. How about sleep here?  
  
Ryoga immediately shouted mentally, 'No! No! No!'  
  
But his mind asked him calmly, 'Why not? It doesn't hurt any of you.'  
  
'I, I, I just can't, okay? It... what would people think?'  
  
'What would they? Not like there's anyone else here other than Ukyo. And she's already decided to fall asleep on you!'  
  
Ryoga continued to quarrel with his thoughts, but it brought up one point after another. Finally, Ryoga admitted defeat.  
  
'Alright, alright....' He shut his eyes unwillingly, and very, very, very reluctantly rested his head upon Ukyo's. And as soon as that was done, he fell into a--thankfully blank--slumber. But just before that happened, he couldn't help but notice how sweet her hair smelled, and how warm she felt....  
  
* * *  
  
Ukyo slowly woke up, gaining her awareness back bit by bit. Her thoughts were fuzzy, partially formed, and not really all that understandable. After a minute they became more coherent, and her chestnut-brown hair swished side to side as she attempted to clear her head of sleep. Her first thought was, 'What day is it?' She thought back to yesterday morning, and realized that today was Sunday. A small, relieved smile tugged on her features gently, and her closed eyes seemed to smile as well. 'Good. Work won't start until twelve.'  
  
The woman was reluctant at first to get up. She felt so warm and comfortable in her bed, especially today. 'Maybe last night was warmer than usual,' she thought drowsily. 'But I can't just lie around all day. I have to get the restaurant ready.' Ukyo was about to sit up in her bed and stretch when she felt something weighing down on top of her head. 'What?' Her eyes flicked open, their bronze irises betraying her sleepy surprise. What she saw stunned her. She wasn't in her bed at all. Indeed, she was sitting on a chair in her kitchen. Her back was aching, because she was in a slouched forward position. But the biggest surprise was that she was leaning into someone's arms, onto their bare chest. Not Ranma's either. 'Then who's...?'  
  
Still half asleep, she half withdrew, half fell out of the pair of arms, and looked up into the face. What she saw caused her to tumble to the ground in the most ungainly manner.  
  
"Ryoga?!" she shouted incredulously. Anger and a touch of astonishment colored her voice as the last wisps of sleep left her. But what surprised her most was the strange feeling she felt in the bottom of her stomach. 'Forget that. He was sleeping on you!' She leapt up and scowled while searching for her battle spatula. She patted her back frantically, but the spatula wasn't there; she had taken it off yesterday while she was serving the customers. While she looked for it, the maple-haired girl's anger evaporated as she realized what the emotion was. 'What? It can't be...! I- it's not possible!' A short spell of dizziness overcame her. Thankfully, Ryoga was too busy looking down at his feet, probably trying to think of an appropriate apology.  
  
The tawny-eyed woman felt extremely shaken. 'C'mon, girl, get a grip on yourself!' She took a deep breath to calm herself, but was interrupted by Ryoga's apologetic voice. His exceedingly apologetic voice.  
  
"Sorry, Ukyo...." Ryoga rubbed the back of his head nervously, and seemed to be torn between standing up like a man and looking properly repentant or falling on the ground and begging forgiveness. He didn't want to get hit by that over-sized spatula of hers again.  
  
Ukyo couldn't let that go on any farther. Sure, he looked really funny like that, what with his knees shaking harder than a leaf in the wind, but he was really uncomfortable. And Ukyo felt kind of bad for him. "Hey, Ryoga," she said softly, gently. "Don't look so scared. I'm not gonna attack you or anything." She forced a smile, though it became genuine when she saw his barely concealed relief.  
  
Ryoga laughed, and rubbed the back of his head sheepishly. "Uh, sorry. I was just so tired, and then you fell asleep and I didn't want to wake you up, so I tried to stay awake, but I fell asleep- " Ukyo cut off his babbling with a wave of her hand.  
  
"Ryoga, don't worry about it. Now, we have to decide what to do." Ukyo didn't realize how easily the 'we' had slipped off her tongue.  
  
The man who was causing her so much trouble only gave her a wane smile. "Ukyo, I'll probably do what I've been trying to do for a year or more. Train so I can defeat Ranma." Was Ukyo imagining it, or did that smile contain a tinge of regret? She didn't know, because she had never known people that well. The only person that she had known well was Ranma, and Ranma tended to be a little secretive about his emotions. 'And even though I think I know Ranma, I don't. I thought I had a chance, even when I noticed how he'd always somehow be at her side when she needed help or a rescue.' Shaking her head at her stupidity, she looked back at Ryoga.  
  
He looked almost wistful, but the expression vanished in a split second. "Well...," Ukyo said as she really thought about his leaving. "Okay, sugar. But you should at least eat some okonomiyaki before you go. And get a good shirt and pair of pants."  
  
Ryoga smiled at her, revealing his miniature set of fangs. "Alright. That would be great."  
  
* * *  
  
About fifteen minutes later, Ukyo was seated at her okonomiyaki grill. She was determined to make the best of what little time she had left with her fanged guest. "What kind do you want?" she asked him.  
  
Ryoga had gotten his normal clothing back, but from where was a mystery. He opened his mouth and started to answer, "Anything but-"  
  
"But pork?" Ukyo grinned as she saw his flush. "Okay. I'll make you a beef one, sugar." She rapidly started to make her okonomiyaki, adding a little of this, sprinkling on a little of that, and arranging it like so. In other words, putting a lot more work into it than she'd do for a normal customer, and maybe even Ranma. 'Which is really saying something.'  
  
She shook her chestnut hair that was bound in the back of her head to settle it, and then placed the finished beef okonomiyaki on a clean white plate. Ryoga smiled a brief thank you, and immediately started to eat, though strangely slowly. As she watched him eat it with almost a mathematical precision, she felt a sadness grow with every bite. 'When the okonomiyaki is done, he'll leave. And I may never see him again. Never.' She would have let a tear loose, had she not sworn to herself that she would never cry over another man again after Ranma.  
  
As she fell deeper and deeper into her reverie, the maple-eyed girl hardly realized that Ryoga was almost done. But when she heard the clatter of his fork against the plate she was jerked back to awareness.  
  
Ryoga stood up from his seat as the legs of it scraped against the floor with a dull groan. "I... I guess I should be leaving now...." He turned around and shouldered his pack, which had appeared there without explanation. He turned around and walked towards a door slowly, and then faced her. "I... maybe this is goodbye." He gave her one long, lingering gaze, the way a starved man would gaze at a feast that was just out of reach.  
  
Then he tried to exit through the closet.  
  
Blushing brightly, he pivoted on his foot and left through the other door, into the bustling streets of Nerima, leaving Ukyo alone, depressed, and somewhat confused.  
  
* * *  
  
As the raven-haired man wandered aimlessly through the dusty roads and streets, his mind, as usual, wandered as well. And finally, it settled on one subject. A chestnut-haired okonomiyaki chef who made him feel exhilarated and uncomfortable at the same time. And he knew what that meant.  
  
He had watched it once in a traveling show, and read about it in a few books. And he had also experienced it when Akane started to take care of him as a pig. 'It can't be that true love stuff... can it?' He shook his head wildly side to side, and thought, 'It can't be! But it is!' He clamped his eyes tightly shut, and in a vain effort to dispel a headache rubbed his temples. But no matter how hard he tried, he couldn't escape the truth. Yes he did love Ukyo, and no, he had no idea of what to do. 'Except, maybe, tell her. But it makes no sense! I just out of nowhere walk up to her and say, Ukyo, I like you. What would she think?'  
  
Ryoga shook his head, and continued to brood over that option. 'But it's better to tell her right away. I lost Akane because of that.' He opened his eyes again, and they seemed strangely peaceful. 'Alright. I... I'll tell her the next time I see her.'  
  
And then again, he became preoccupied with thoughts of how exactly he'd tell her.  
  
And as usual, his feet carried him somewhere completely unexpected.  
  
* * *  
  
Ukyo made herself kettle of strong tea to help ease the headache and heartache she was starting to get. The amber-eyed woman poured it into a mug, and started to sip at it delicately, for it was still piping hot. She closed her eyes, and let the steam swirl up and around her face, while thinking the situation through. It wasn't so bad; all she had to do was keep an eye out for any sudden explosions of cold water and sudden rumblings in the ground, and Ryoga would probably be nearby, probably fighting Ranma. And once she found their fight, she could always covertly shadow them until the battle finished or one of them transformed.  
  
Already her headache was starting to leave. Smiling a smile tinged just barely with melancholy, she sat a bit more comfortably in her chair. And who said that she had to wait for them to battle? She would probably find him within a couple weeks, roaming the streets of Nerima, trying to figure out where exactly he was.  
  
She drank the tea and drained the mug to the dregs. Feeling very relaxed and content, she leaned back in her chair and sighed with satisfaction. And who knows? Maybe by then, she would have mustered the courage to tell him. Yes, she was afraid of rejection, but she didn't want him to go off and love someone else without her having at least a chance.  
  
Caught up in the strange sense of peace that was oh-so-rare in Nerima, she shut her hazel eyes in bliss. But they abruptly snapped back open as she heard a shout from outside.  
  
"WHERE IN THE WORLD AM I NOW?!"  
  
Smiling lightly, Ukyo strode to the door to collect Ryoga and bring him back in. 'And who knows? Maybe I'll muster the courage now.'  
  
And with a slight trembling of suppressed excitement and nervousness, she went out to get the man who had so quickly turned into everything she could want.  
  
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *  
  
Bunch of Author's Notes:  
  
Here's the part where I thank everyone who reviewed (but you should still review anyway)!  
  
Sleeping Melody: Thanks for the compliment! Well anyway, now Ranma WILL do something about Akane's answer. Hope you like it!  
  
AnT: Thank you so much for your reviews! They were greatly appreciated, and gave me the motivation to keep on writing.  
  
seongmi: I think the greatest compliment a reviewer can give the author of a songfic is that the song fit perfectly! So you flattered me very much.... ^-^  
  
Chibi Ucchan: I love Ukyo/Ryoga fics, too. And you bet I'll write more of it (but not chapter stories... I don't update enough... heh), 'cept it will be mixed with some Ranma/Akane.  
  
murasaki ayame: Thanks for thinking my fic is 'cool'. ^-^  
  
KannaOphelia: Thank you so much for that review! It was one of the ones that cheered ME up immensely. And I edited all my chapters due to your very helpful suggestion.  
  
Jen of the Wildfire: Hope you like the rest of the story! When I wrote Ryoga's discovery, I was trying to keep it a little light, but some chapters... aren't.  
  
wingzeropilot: I explain why Ryoga just randomly (well, not really random if you read the entire fic) proposed to Akane. Oh yeah, I love Akane/Ranma pairings, too.  
  
Sporanox: You have a point there.... If I ever make a sequel (which I probably won't, too much updating... *sweatdrop*) you bet Akari will be in it trying to get back 'her' Ryoga!  
  
dennisud: All has already been revealed.... ^-^  
  
butterfly: Yes, I am planning on developing the Akane/Ranma story... I have it three-quarters done already, so it SHOULD be posted soon.  
  
Ranka: I've already made the ending chapter to the Ryoga/Ukyo branch, but even better, I'm making the Ranma/Akane one, too!  
  
Otaku by day, Goth by night: Thank you for that compliment! It really made me smile when I read it... (I mean really... my writing style, loved! ^-^).  
  
Well that's it... for now. (And reviews are still GREATLY APPRECIATED.) ~ AmberWings 


	7. Ranma and Akane: Confrontations

Everything You Want  
  
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Disclaimer: Ranma ½ is Rumiko Takahishi's. Ho hum.  
  
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Ranma and Akane: Confrontations  
  
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Akane watched Ryoga's retreating back with a heavy heart. 'He was one of my only true friends....' She shook her blue-black head sadly, but a sudden thought occurred to her. 'Ryoga always gets lost and ends up here. I can always talk to him when that happens.' Pleased that she had found a solution to her dilemma, all the emotion that had fueled her bled away, leaving the chocolate-eyed girl feeling drained and exhausted. And it didn't help matters that she had hardly gotten any restful sleep last night. Now the only problem she wanted to be confronted with was how she was going to get to her bed.  
  
Genma guffawed, obviously happy. "See that, Tendo? I told you! Akane refused to marry Ryoga! She and Ranma are practically a couple now! It won't be long before they get married!"  
  
Akane tiredly thought that there was no logic at all behind that reasoning, but her father seemed to agree with the spectacled man. Together, they strolled into the house singing joyously, presumably to drink sake. Kasumi followed them with a slightly dazed smile. "Oh my," she said genially. And, uncharacteristically enough, Nabiki still wasn't there.  
  
With a slight groan, Akane turned around and was about follow Kasumi and the others inside when a voice stopped her.  
  
"Yo, 'kane?"  
  
Akane turned around slowly. "Yeah?"  
  
"Hey, you seem kinda tired. Why? It's not like you were fighting Ryoga or nothin'. I usually do that." Ranma laughed shortly; the sound was forced, and had no humor within it.  
  
Akane rolled her eyes mentally. Sure, she knew shouldn't expect anything less--well, more--from Ranma, but she had been hoping that he would actually say something intelligent for once. Starting to head off to into the house to her room, she halted once more when Ranma stopped her another time; this time Akane sensed something behind her shoulder. She turned her head around the tiniest bit, and saw that his hand was uselessly stretched out, perhaps to rest on her shoulder or something. "What, Ranma?" she asked lightly, but stared pointedly at the hand.  
  
"I, uh, yeah," he said smartly, the offending hand quickly dashing behind his head to rest on his black hair confusedly.  
  
'Dolt.' Akane sighed mentally. Her moments with Ranma were always like this- -coming so close, and then... then being pushed away again. And the most frustrating part was how he angered her yet made her feel so warm and content at the same time.  
  
She was about to let another sigh come out for the entire world to hear when Ranma spoke for the third time. "Um, ya know...." He stopped again, much to Akane's extreme yet half-hearted annoyance.  
  
Miffed, Akane stated--dully, with none of her usual temper-- "Ranma, if you want to say something, say it. I'm tired and I want to sleep."  
  
"Uh...." Somewhat put out, Ranma hesitated, and finally said something that made sense. "Um, why did you, you know, say no?" He rushed the last bit of the sentence, obviously embarrassed. Akane could already see a light patch of red spread across both his cheeks.  
  
Seeing Ranma blush was not something Akane was used to seeing. Sure, it happened almost all the time, but it still surprised her....  
  
The petite girl couldn't help but wonder what had prompted such a question. Didn't she tell him yesterday? Why was he asking again? 'Oh well. Might as well tell him again.'  
  
She gave him a wane smile, the second one today. "Ranma, you know. I told you yesterday, and the reason is still the same. I like him like a br-- "  
  
Startled for a moment, she stopped. The heat from Ranma's blush was enough to give her sunburn. He was the color of his favorite shirt, and turning redder if possible. 'Ranma's normally not like this--if you could ever call him normal-- ' she grumbled, '--so what's eating him today?'  
  
"Well, um, thanks. I... just wanted to know again. Just to make sure." Ranma continued to rub his unruly hair in an embarrassed sort of way. Akane smiled at him--not a weak smile, but a real smile, the kind that she wanted to show Ranma all the time instead of just occasionally. 'Whenever he does stuff like that, it's so funny....' She chuckled a little to herself, but her smile never once faded.  
  
And she could have sworn that Ranma had skipped a breath. 'No, probably not. Just the delusions of an exhausted, high-school girl.' Akane just realized that she had that smile aimed at him for more than ten seconds, and blushed slightly. 'How embarrassing...! My face just froze in that smile!' So to save the situation, she babbled out the first thing that came to her mind. Unfortunately, she asked Ranma to come with her to the koi pond so they could talk. 'Akane, you dolt! You look so stupid right now!'  
  
And it didn't help matters that Ranma agreed--with a smile of his own. Her heart fluttered like a bird greeting the first rays of sunlight, but she quelled the feeling by resolutely telling herself that this was just Ranma. Rude, annoying, stubborn, stupid Ranma. 'The same Ranma who calls me a macho chick. The same Ranma who calls me a gorilla. The same Ranma who never fails to rescue me....' Her inner-self snickered at her thought, but made no other comment.  
  
The short-haired girl led the way to a place next to the pond hidden from the house by overgrown bushes. She plopped herself onto the ground as her legs started to sway. Hardly noticeable, even by herself. 'So of course Ranma hasn't noticed... just like he never notices the way I....' She shook her head, and proceeded to industriously pull off her shoes and socks. She dipped her weary feet into the pond, and relished the feel of the cool water gently rippling off her ankles. Her sudden movements frightened away the fish that were closest to them, and they swam away rapidly, the sun glinting off their red and silver scales. Her soft eyes followed the startled fish until they went deeper into the pond. She dared a glance back at Ranma, crouching beside her, who only was watching her soak her feet in the water wistfully. "I wish I could do that too," he sighed, "but I'd turn into a girl." Unable to think of a suitable response that wasn't insulting, Akane started to swish her legs back and forth in the pond's cool water.  
  
"So," Ranma said, attempting to break the long and uncomfortable silence. "So, why did you call me here?"  
  
She leaned back, looking into the nearly cloudless sky. It was a vibrant blue that seemed full of life, and despite the few clouds that roamed it restlessly, it was still beautiful. "Dunno. Just... oh, I don't know."  
  
"Oh." She turned around to glance at him. He was gazing at the grass below him, not wanting to meet her eyes.  
  
She sighed deeply, and went back to looking at the pond. Her conversations with Ranma were always like this. They'd have so many chances, but.... 'We just mess them up.' Uncomfortable thoughts, an uncomfortable silence, Akane had a sudden urge to say something to make all of them go away.  
  
"I used to love it here at the koi pond," Akane said softly, not really thinking. "It was always so peaceful, so calm...." 'Like my life was before I met you, Ranma....'  
  
"Until I came and ruined it, huh?" he replied, a bit bitterly, echoing her thoughts.  
  
She made no reply. 'My life was ordered and calm, everything nearly perfect, except for a few things. Those boys chased me when I didn't want them to, Dr. Tofu liked--no, he loved! --Kasumi instead of me, Kuno always was trying to win a date with me.'  
  
"Now, Pop and I are always falling in it, turning into our cursed forms in it, and generally messing it up."  
  
'Then you and your father came. I'm suddenly told that I have a fiancé that I don't even know, and that we are going to be married. And then all these people showed up, all of them wanting one of two things: you or me. Actually one of three--some wanted one of us dead. That chaos... let's just say that it took a while to get used to. But... but some of the things that flawed my life... some things stopped when you came, like the boys chasing me, my crush on Dr. Tofu.... And some things, you helped me with, like dealing with Kuno. I'm sorry that I always yelled at you whenever you did help me.... I just never noticed that before.... In fact, I'm sorry that I yell at you at all....' Akane's thoughtful silence was heavy, weighing down on both of them.  
  
"Look, Akane, I... I'm... I'm sorry. I'm sorry for all the craziness I cause just by being here. I'm sorry for everything, Akane."  
  
Akane looked back at him, her mouth slightly agape, in shock at the complete, sincere, and obviously painful apology she had just received. He looked dispirited, as if all the fire had been snuffed out of him. She had rarely ever seen him like that before, and seeing him like that now was heart-breaking. 'But... Ranma... I'm glad that you came into my life. Before you came, it was hollow. It was just gray, though at the time it had seemed wonderful. But now... now that I see how vibrant and colorful life with you is like, I never want to go back to the calm and order. Ranma....'  
  
"Ranma...." The words fell from her mouth like stones into a pond. "Ranma, I don't mind the insanity you brought into my life. Just having you in my life is worth it."  
  
Akane's mind suddenly blanked. 'No! What did I just say?! That sounded so stupid! Ranma's going to laugh at me, and then go pick Shampoo or Ukyo!' Her mind sprang back to life. 'Wait... what I just said... do I really love him?' And her heart replied with the most pleasant sensation she had ever felt in her entire life. 'Yes. Yes, you do!'  
  
She blushed lightly, and tried to cover it by staring determinedly at her feet swishing hurriedly in the water, causing even more ripples. She didn't want to look at him, didn't want to see the mockery in his face, or the shock, or--worst of all--the disgust.  
  
However Ranma had other ideas. One of his calloused thumbs found a place under her dainty chin, and turned her face towards him. And Akane could have cried at what she saw.  
  
Surprise, and then, incredulous joy.  
  
"D'you... d'you really mean that?"  
  
She nodded her head. A shaky smile was on her face, and a few warm tears of happiness slid down her smooth cheeks.  
  
Ranma gently cupped her face in one rough hand, and softly wiped away her tears with the other. "C'mon, don't cry now. Not when we're both so happy...."  
  
Completely losing control of herself, she flung her arms around his neck and held him tightly, crying into his red shirt. He was surprised, but he embraced her back and held her close.  
  
She couldn't comprehend how joyful she was, didn't realize how much she had wanted to get that out until now. At that moment, there was only her, Ranma, and the gentle rippling of the water against the edges of the koi pond.  
  
When the black-haired girl was done crying herself out, she sat back on her haunches, blushing. Ranma looked at her with an unreadable expression on his face, and moved a little closer, with one arm stretched towards her. She moved to him as well, and they met with a kiss. At first, she was unaware of anything other than two things: one, that they were actually kissing without any wayward fiancés or exultant fathers barging in, and two, that the expression on his face was unquestionably love.  
  
But then, when she melted into the kiss, she felt as if bright lights were going off all around them. Her blood pounded in her ears, and she was conscious only of the beating of both their hearts in time with each other. Once the kiss was finished, however--she realized something.  
  
That there was another subtle sound during it, a sort of clicking. And that the lights weren't surrounding them, but coming from the direction opposite of the house. And that Ranma was staring at someplace behind her with an expression of disbelief. Akane turned around to see what he was looking at, and was just as surprised as Ranma was.  
  
"Nabiki?!" they sputtered together.  
  
"Yup, it's me," she said cheerily from behind another clump of vegetation, waving her camera around for emphasis. "And as you can see, I've brought some friends!" She gestured behind her, and all at once the entire student body of Furinkan High leaped up, covered in a stunned silence. How they all managed to fit in her yard, Akane had no idea, but she was filled with outrage.  
  
"Nabiki, you, you, you--"  
  
"Cheer up, Akane!" she said with a smirk. "I've earned enough money with this to send us all to college two times over!"  
  
Akane was about to shout something angrily when Ranma interrupted. "Yo, Nabiki, where's Kuno? And where's Shampoo, and Cologne, and everyone else who's tried to kill us?"  
  
"For once, Saotome, I decided to be nice to you. I spared letting them know." Nabiki would have said more, but the crowd drowned her out with shouts.  
  
"Saotome, I didn't know you had it in you!"  
  
"Wish I had a guy like that...."  
  
"Akane! No! How could you pick Saotome?!"  
  
"Why didn't you tell us before, man?!"  
  
"Akane! Why didn't you say anything to us?"  
  
"Ranma!"  
  
"Akane!"  
  
Akane clapped her hands to her ears, wanting desperately to be alone with Ranma again. And for once Ranma seemed to have noticed. He jumped to his feet, scooped Akane off, and before anyone knew what was happening, ran off with her in his strong arms, and seemed to leap into the sky, and landed on the rooftops. And he kept going. "Ranma, where are you going?" Akane asked, a little frantic.  
  
"I dunno," Ranma replied honestly. "But don't worry, we'll be fine. I won't let you fall."  
  
"I wasn't worried about that," Akane said softly. "I trust you with my life."  
  
'After all, I've trusted you with my heart for this long....'  
  
And together they ran. Where they were headed, they didn't know. But they would come back.  
  
After a while.  
  
* * * * * * * * * * * *  
  
*surveys work* Hey, not too bad if I do say so myself! Sorry that I haven't updated in so long. Early June, my parents told me I had to study ("In a year you'll be going to highschool where everyone is focused on college. We want you to have a head start." Feh, good intentions....), disconnected my computer, and stashed it in the basement. I've finally gotten it back! *hugs computer* I've been so out of things.... Oh well! At least it's finally finished (though it was finished in late May... I was just waiting for the &!@$# internet to come back up. I hate Comcast....).  
  
I don't think I'll ever write a multi-chapter story again. It took so long with the *&$!# internet! One shots, those are much better, because there is no wondering what will happen next. And I've had many ideas for those! *pulls out piece of much-wrinkled paper and waves it enthusiastically* Just have to copy and save it on the computer! The pencil is starting to get faded and illegible....  
  
Well, I am going to touch up all the chapters and fix things! My stupid Microsoft Word Program does things that I hadn't thought would affect it.... Also, I think I'll write another chapter, since a few have requested it, closing the Ryoga/Ukyo story. Well, off to work again. 


	8. Epilogue: Aftermath

Everything You Want  
  
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Disclaimer: Ranma ½ is Rumiko Takahashi's. Ho hum.  
  
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Epilogue: Aftermath  
  
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The sun beamed radiantly the next morning, and poured with an almost honey- like slowness onto the old, much repaired Tendo home. Nabiki Tendo stretched languidly in her bed as the sun hit her face, and yawned sleepily. Sitting up in bed, she shook her short brown hair to clear her sleep-fogged mind, and surveyed the room around her. Resting on every available surface were stacks of pictures tied neatly together and files overflowing with papers. After Akane and Ranma had run away from the yard, Nabiki had taken her roll of film and headed to the nearest photo shop. Though she normally developed pictures herself, she wanted these two shots- one of them embracing, one of them kissing-in a staggering amount. Thankfully, like almost every other shop in Nerima, this one she could blackmail, so she had it all done for free. How the photo shop had worked so fast when she had wanted 150 copies, she didn't know. But that didn't matter-she would ask one of her ever-faithful-or rather, fearful-contacts.  
  
After the photos were picked up later that day, she had headed to her room and pulled out her audio recorder. She had recorded everything that was said, and she started to type it up. Then she had photocopied it 75 times. This too, was done for free, for the same reasons the photo shop had.  
  
This morning, she had to make sure everything was ready to be sealed or filed away. She counted the bundles of pictures. There were 75 of each one. "Wonderful," she said quietly. Then she picked up one of the stray papers from a file. This was the conversation record she would be selling. She surveyed her work carefully:  
  
Ranma: So, why did you call me here?  
  
Akane: I really wanted to talk to you about something.  
  
Ranma: I've really wanted to talk to you for a long time about something important, too. Maybe it's the same. What d'you want to talk about, Akane?  
  
Akane: About us. I want to talk to you here though, because it's so calm and beautiful.  
  
Ranma: The way your life was before I came?  
  
Akane: (silence)  
  
Ranma: Look, Akane, I'm sorry about everything. All the craziness I cause just by being here-I'm sorry.  
  
Akane: Ranma, you don't need to be sorry. Having you here, with me, that's enough to make me not care about all the insanity. Because I love you, Ranma. I love you more than anything.  
  
Ranma: I love you too, Akane. I'd do anything for you.  
  
'Perfect.' Even though it wasn't exactly what was said, it was close enough. It didn't matter. No one would really care, anyway, and the end- product would remain the same: everyone would see that they loved each other. However, what was actually said along with the tape of it would remain in her files. You never knew what could be used to reach your ends. Those she put in the bottom-most drawer of her desk, the one with the lock which other important files.  
  
Smiling contentedly, she pulled out a package of 100 manila envelopes from a drawer in her desk. The mercenary-like girl started the painstaking, tedious job of putting one speech record and two photos into each envelope. And while she worked, she smiled to herself. 'It's about time those two fools saw how much they love each other,' she thought. 'And this is as a caring sister, not a cool businesswoman. They were hurting each other by denying it whenever they thought about it. If that had gone on for much longer, one of them would have had their heart shattered. And seeing how thick-headed the two of them are, the other one wouldn't have noticed.' She shook her head. 'Those two are such frustrating people. Thank Kami that they finally spoke to each other.' The brown-eyed girl sighed deeply. She felt kind of guilty, violating the privacy that they had wanted. But then she remembered the money she had earned, and all such thoughts quickly emptied themselves out of her mind.  
  
She finished sealing the last sturdy brown envelope with a flourish and a song on her lips, and gathered them all together. She carefully placed them in a bag next to the desk, and stretched again. Consulting her watch, she saw that it was 9:30. 'Great,' she thought, 'I'm on schedule.' She planned to meet some of her regulars and sell most of these to them. They would then in turn give them away at a higher price to others who found the entire Ranma/Akane situation interesting. There were bets going on as to when the pair would finally realize things, and these files would help settle them. However, there were about five that she wanted to vend personally.  
  
She changed into a lavender t-shirt and her favorite, faded blue jeans, and gathered her valuable bag. Leaving her bedroom, Nabiki walking sedately down the hall. She stopped at Akane's door, and peeped in. Good. She was still sleeping. She wouldn't bother Nabiki. She in turn went to Ranma's door, who was sleeping as well. Nabiki smirked. The two had come home yesterday around six o'clock. According to some of her people, they had gone to the park, eaten some ice cream, avoided cold water at all costs, and done other things that young couples did. However, they had still gone to a restaurant for the sole purpose of getting hot water.  
  
Smiling to herself, she pattered lightly down the stairs, making sure to jump over the squeaky fourth stair. She strolled into the kitchen, where Kasumi was preparing breakfast.  
  
"Oh, Nabiki," Kasumi greeted pleasantly. "Would you like something to eat? I'll quickly prepare something for you."  
  
"No thanks, sis," Nabiki said, waving away the offer with her free right hand. "I have some work to do."  
  
"But you should at least have something to eat!" Kasumi wheedled.  
  
"Okay, I'll have a pork bun," Nabiki said offhandedly, much to the older girl's obvious distaste. However, Nabiki was firm, so Kasumi gave her one of the buns from last night's meal. How this one survived the night without being eaten by Genma or Ranma, Nabiki didn't know. But she had the sneaking suspicion that it had something to do with Ranma and Akane's discovery yesterday and their little excursion in the park.  
  
Nabiki said a quick goodbye to Kasumi, and bit delicately into the pork bun. Despite being a day old and chilled, it was still delicious. After that bite, she devoured the rest of it avidly, all the while heading over to Furinkan High where her first buyer was.  
  
After some spirited haggling from the boy which only landed on deaf ears, he finally gave into Nabiki's price of 30,000 yen for twenty of her envelopes of joy. She had given him a 'discount'-it wasn't really, she had that factored into the main price-of two-thousand yen, which is what sealed the deal. She met five more buyers, and sold fifty more of her 'presents'.  
  
Rifling through her profits of 105,000 yen, she whistled to herself. Today was a good business day-over 100,000 yen in just thirty minutes! Then she put them safely away in her bill holder, and stuffed the bulging pack back into her jeans pocket. She checked her bag, and saw five left. 'Perfect,' she thought. She had plans for these.  
  
Her first stop was the Kuno residence. Knocking on the vast door brought Sasuke to open it. "Miss Tendo! What brings you here?"  
  
"Sasuke! I have something here that Kuno-baby and Kodachi would love!" She brandished the manila packet in front of his face, and pulled it back to her side.  
  
Sasuke frowned. "Miss Tendo, I know that what you bring is probably terribly urgent, but I also know that what you bring isn't cheap. How much is it for them?"  
  
'Miss Tendo' smiled brilliantly. "For my Kuno-baby and his sister, how about... seven-thousand yen?" She knew she was horribly over-pricing it, but the Kunos were always looser with their money than anyone else. "And listen to this-instead of one envelope, I'll give you two for the same price. One for Kodachi and one for Kuno. You know how they squabble over things all the time."  
  
"Oh, Miss Tendo, you shall make us go bankrupt soon!" Sasuke wailed, as Nabiki had expected.  
  
"Fine then. Eight-thousand yen."  
  
Sasuke nearly cried. "Miss... Miss Tendo...!"  
  
"Take it or leave it," she said, a smirk plastered onto her merciless face.  
  
The midget-ninja sighed deeply, and pulled a wallet out of his back pocket. As he was pulling out the money she demanded, Nabiki had a guilt attack.  
  
'I really shouldn't be doing this to Ranma and Akane.... When the Kunos see those pictures, all hell will break loose. They deserve a day of peace.'  
  
As Sasuke held out his hand with the money, Nabiki told him, "Look, how about a deal? You don't give those envelopes to the Kunos until tomorrow, and the price will go back to seven-thousand yen. Deal?"  
  
Relief flooded Sasuke's face. "Of course!" he exclaimed, and pulled a thousand yen note out of his hand and threw it back into the wallet. He accepted the envelopes and hid them under his arm.  
  
"Pleasure doing business with you," the chestnut-haired girl smiled, while Sasuke mumbled something in reply. Picking the bag up again, the medium- built girl strode back down the walk towards the business section of Nerima. She passed her home again, and the silence from it was unnerving. None of the suitors had tried to deliver food yet, then. Good.  
  
But she spoke too soon. As she came into sight of the Nekohanten, she saw Shampoo's bike and her violet-haired head speeding in the direction of the Tendo Dojo with a take-out box in hand. Nabiki sped up her steps as she saw the lone white figure slumping in front of the restaurant.  
  
Mousse was outside, sweeping the walk in front of the restaurant with a definite lack of energy. His glasses, as usual, were on top of his head instead of in front of his eyes. "Hey, Mousse!" Nabiki shouted to him as she came into hearing distance.  
  
The nearly blind boy looked up. He cheered up a little when he saw who it was. "Ah, Nabiki Tendo! Greetings!" The brunette couldn't help but realize that he was speaking to the cat statue next to the restaurant's door. Sighing, she reached over and dropped his glasses back onto the bridge of his nose. "Oh!" He turned around and greeted her again. "I am sorry. So, Nabiki, why have you come?"  
  
"I have something here that all of you crazy Amazons would... ah... love." She smiled encouragingly, and held up one of the sachets. Her other hand rested confidently on her waist.  
  
"Oh? What is that?" Mousse was about to grab it out of her hands, but Nabiki stopped him with the menacing finger.  
  
"Nuh-uh. You won't see the contents until you buy it."  
  
"Why should I?" Mousse asked, and leaned the broom against the cat sculpture.  
  
"Because you'll love it. Didn't I say that already?" She smiled dazzlingly, and Mousse sighed.  
  
"Fine. How much?" He had taken his glasses back off, and was staring at the broom inquiringly.  
  
"For you, my sightless friend, a thousand yen." Nabiki didn't really feel like making poor Mousse pay full price. Besides, the Kunos' purchase made up for it.  
  
Mousse muttered a little, but grudgingly pulled out the money from his voluminous sleeves.  
  
Before she gave it to him, however, she told him in a low undertone, "Don't show this to Cologne or Shampoo or even speak about its contents until tomorrow, okay? You'll see why when you open it. Just hide it up one of your sleeves until then." She then handed it to him, and he grudgingly handed over the money. However, he seemed to be genuinely curious of what it contained, for he had put his glasses back on without prompting and was gazing at it with a thoughtful expression.  
  
"Nabiki Tendo, am I permitted to look at it now?" he asked hopefully.  
  
She smiled warmly. "Yes you can, duck-boy, but don't say anything about it or make any sound at all in reaction when you see it." She turned around briskly and walked away. When she looked over her shoulder back at Mousse, however, she could tell that she had just brightened his day. He had resumed sweeping the walk, but was doing it with a bounce in his steps. The envelope has no where to be seen.  
  
Nabiki smiled even wider, feeling pleased with herself. She often felt sorry for duck-boy and Ryoga. Those two were the some of the nicest of those involved some way with Ranma. Besides, those two rarely damaged the house. 'Unlike Shampoo and Ukyo. And speaking of Ukyo....'  
  
There were two envelopes left in her bag, one for Ukyo and one for-not Ryoga, but anyone who may ask for one later. Ryoga, no doubt, had probably guessed the reason Akane had turned down his proposal besides the fact that she loved him like a brother. So it would cause her no real profit, and continue to destroy his spirit.  
  
Sure, she may love money, but she couldn't just destroy someone's soul so ruthlessly. Especially someone who really didn't deserve it. It wouldn't matter to Shampoo, because she had a strong spirit and wouldn't really believe it-never mind be hurt by it! 'But when she storms over to find out the meaning of it... Kami help us. But Ukyo....' At that moment, Nabiki made a decision. She took out the packet meant for Ukyo, and rummaged through it. The picture of the kiss was taken out, and so was the script. Those she put into her bag. It wouldn't hurt to have a copy of her own fake script to use as reference. The only thing the envelope now contained was the picture of the couple's teary embrace. That was the gentlest thing that would hurt her heart least. And she wouldn't make Ukyo pay for this.  
  
Nabiki came into seeing distance of Ucchan's, where Ukyo was standing in the doorway, looking dispirited and lonesome. The okonomiyaki chef sighed deeply, and slumped back into her store.  
  
'What's bothering her?' Nabiki thought. Of all the days to be sick, her contact for Ukyo decided that today would be best. Nabiki put a hand to her temple, and leaned against a building, doing some quick thinking. And checking her watch. Eleven-forty.  
  
'She could just be upset that no customers are waiting. Even though Ucchan's only opened at twelve on Sundays, there would normally be at least five or so regulars queued up at the door by eleven-thirty. Those she let in early. And Nabiki was positive on this point-she had a file on Ucchan's visitor-habits at home.  
  
'Maybe that's the reason.... She isn't really friends with any of the kids from Furinkan, so none of them probably told her. She has no reason to be upset.' But Nabiki considered the girl a little further. 'She's bright, though-not as dense as Ranma and not as oblivious as Akane. She might have noticed... the way they felt.' After all, it was Sunday, Ukyo's normal feed- Ranma day. She never missed Sundays, and always delivered before eleven! And as she passed the Tendo house, all was quiet. And all during her interchange with Mousse, she hadn't seen anyone jumping from roof to roof. It was kind of hard to miss that sort of thing.  
  
'So maybe she does know-' Nabiki was about to think further, but was rudely interrupted by an anguished shout:  
  
"WHERE IN THE WORLD AM I NOW?!" Nabiki's head whipped around, and she finally caught sight of the eternally lost boy.  
  
He was standing with his back to Ucchan's, and desperately trying to recognize his surroundings. And at that moment Ukyo came out of her restaurant, smiling radiantly. She said something to Ryoga, something Nabiki couldn't hear for she was too far away. Ryoga turned around, his face alight with joy. He said something that incredulous, and walked briskly towards her, never blinking his eyes. When he reached her, he grabbed both her hands. He told her something, she seemed surprised-but then she smiled even more brightly than before. Nabiki was certain that if she was closer, she would have been sun-burned by its intensity. Then she told him something, and it was his turn to look stunned and elated. If Nabiki didn't know better... she would have sworn that Ranma and Akane had had the same expressions on yesterday by the koi pond.  
  
Good, then. Ukyo wouldn't care about Ranma and Akane. In fact, she probably already knew and had gotten over it. She could have an unexpectedly strong spirit sometimes.  
  
Ukyo squeezed Ryoga briefly, and taking his hand, lead him back into the restaurant. She stopped at the door and did something to it before going in  
  
Out of sheer curiosity, the hazel-eyed girl went up to see. And she smiled.  
  
On the door was a sign that read, "Closed for the Day".  
  
'I don't need to give her one,' Nabiki thought as she walked back home. 'So what will I do with the two packets left over?' Suddenly an impish idea occurred to her. Wearing an enigmatic smile that passers-by wondered about, she replaced the script and picture back into the envelope that had once been meant for Ukyo. 'I think Akane and Ranma would like to have one. And-' her enigmatic smile changed into a devilish one-'the fathers are sure to love them.'  
  
Contemplating the amount she'd make the daddy and Mr. Saotome pay, Nabiki walked home with light spirits.  
  
And a heavy pocket.  
  
The End  
  
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *  
  
It's finally over! Took nearly a year... *hits herself* I am such a lazy baka sometimes.... But it would have been finished in January or something if the stupid internet didn't keep on going down. *kicks cable box* I hate Comcast....  
  
So anyway, please review with what you think! Thank you so much to all the people who kept on encouraging me! Bye for now! ~ AmberWings 


End file.
